Per Definitionem
by Gutemine
Summary: A collection of oneshots starring our favorite dragon-wielding midget and his exhibitionist second-in-command. Various genres, settings and timelines. Hitsumatsu Now complete!
1. Merit

**A/N:** So this is the awesome start of my even more awesome hitsumatsu-oneshot collection. Which will hopefully be to your liking. If not...Yeah, well. Tell me what you think about it! Pretty please?

**Disclaimer:** Not mine.

* * *

**#1: Merit**

Matsumoto opened her eyes to the unyielding and unforgiving light of the midmorning sun.

Ugh ...

Afternoon sun.

Oh well, whatever. Not that it really was of any importance.

What was, however, was the fact that she had been ripped right out of her nap by forces yet unknown but as good as annihilated. Once she was finished sleeping, anyway.

With a slight sigh she turned onto her back, draped her arm over her eyes to shield them from the invading light, and tried to get back to sleep.

Life was good.

"How long exactly are you planning to sleep, Matsumoto?"

"Uh ... only five more minutes, sir ... please ..."

The shuffling of paper could be heard and Matsumoto knew that she already had him on toast.

"Remind me again, Matsumoto, why is it I keep you around?"

Or maybe not.

But she didn't miss a beat. "Because I'm awesome like that."

She could practically _hear_ Hitsugaya's eyebrow lift skeptically.

"In skipping work and getting yourself slam-drunk? Well, I'll admit, you have those disciplines down pat."

"Taichou", Matsumoto whined, but still refused to get up from her spot and prove him wrong.

There was a long moment of silence in which Matumoto was lulled back into a light slumber by the continuous rustling of papers. But Hitsugaya wasn't finished yet.

"Name three reasons why I shouldn't ask for your transfer right this instant."

It seemed he was in a playful mood today. Matsumoto was willing to go along.

"Because nobody can make onigiri as good as I do", she said, absolutely convinced – and rightfully so. Her onigiri were famous among her accomplices, even more so because, as proven, Matsumoto couldn't cook anything else to save her life.

"While they are indeed quite delicious", Hitsugaya replied after a few seconds, "They are not indispensable."

What? Did he just ... mock her onigiri? "If that's how you think it is I won't bother to make them again", she said, a pout on her lips.

"You are just touchy because you can't think of a better reason."

Matsumoto forced the still tired gears in her head to start working a little more efficiently as she realized he was actually right. Unfortunately, it took her a few minutes to come up with anything at all.

And in all honesty, it was Haineko who pointed it out to her.

"Ah!", Matsumoto exclaimed, inwardly thanking her feline companion, "I'm a good fighter."

"One done, two left."

"Uh ..."

Well, what was it that made Matsumoto worthy of being the second-in-command? Comparing herself to fukutaichou of other divisions she found herself awfully lacking.

Wait! Woah. Back up.

Was Matsumoto Rangiku getting self-conscious?

No way in hell.

"I have been part of this division since forever", she said, finally sitting up, "I have earned my place here as much as anyone else did."

"So now you are just resting on your laurels?"

"Am not!", she cried indignantly, sounding like a child. Hitsugaya threw her an unconvinced look, but kept silent.

"Are you trying to make me insecure?", she asked with a huff.

"I'd rather call it 'understand the workings of your brain'", he replied, putting his pen aside, "Other people in our division obviously work harder than you do but still you are their superior. Why do you think that is?"

Flicking her hair behind her shoulders she got up and marched over to her desk. "Right, right, I get it", she growled and sat down, "Look, I'm doing my work..."

Hitsugaya looked at her hunched form with a smirk of triumph.

Not only had he made his lieutenant work without having to yell at her face, he also had ascertained the fact that Matsumoto had no clue whatsoever as to what merit she had for the entire 10th division.

It was a good thing that he knew at least.

But he wouldn't enlighten her quite yet.


	2. Differences pt1

**A/N:** Here we go... the second chapter of _Per definitionem_, which is actually the first part of what will probably amount to be a two-shot. We'll see about that. This one's a little longer, but don't get used to it. Also, beware of the (slight) alcohol abuse here ... although with Matsumoto, that's probably a given. Plus, tiny mentions of ginran, and although I'm quite a fan of this particular pairing it won't really play much into any of the upcoming chapters, mainly because I'm not too big on the whole love-triangle thingie. So no worries there.

A great many thanks goes to **Rachel Noelle**, **SoaringHellButterfly**, **indigoia** and **kazukami**! Thanks so much for your kind reviews, they were balm on my poor tortured fanfic-author soul...

But enough with the stalling - on we go! Enjoy!

* * *

**#2: Differences (pt.1)**

_This_ was not how she had planned it. She'd swear to all things holy, not even in her wildest dreams had she thought things could turn out quite like they did.

Not that she had any part in the setup anyway ... at least not consciously.

But, as it was, the party had just been awesome, especially since any kind of party had grown scarce ever since Aizen's defection. It was more of a gathering, admittedly, with Yamamoto-soutaichou holding a solemn speech right at the beginning and everyone listening intently, even herself, even though the alcohol next to her was begging to be drowned.

But it grew a little more casual throughout the night. A lot of mingling, dancing and drinking and Matsumoto was having fun like she hadn't had in ages.

Her taichou, however, being the stoic little man he was, only stood to the side, talking to random people about serious matters.

He snarled at her when she asked him to dance.

Psh, then be that way!

So Matsumoto spent the night having fun, ignoring Hitsugaya for most of the time.

And that was how she came to be in the predicament she found herself in now.

Of course, someone had to sneak alcohol, heavy alcohol at that, into his drinks.

And of course she hadn't noticed anything until they were on their way home together.

Alcohol and fresh air.

He began to stagger, tripping over the hem of his own uniform, but as Matsumoto reached out to steady him he pushed her hands away forcefully.

"I'm fine", he slurred and Matsumoto was hard pressed to not laugh out loud.

"Like hell you are", she replied and clamped her hand down on his shoulder. He struggled a little against her hold, but gave up when she didn't budge.

She steered him towards the barracks of 10th division, thankful that she was at least halfway sober – because otherwise they probably would have spent their night lying unconscious in a ditch somewhere.

And her taichou would never let her hear the end of _that_.

Mumbling something under his breath Hitsugaya let himself be pushed forward. Matsumoto couldn't quite catch what he was saying but put it off as not important enough to warrant asking for repetition. Instead she watched amusedly as her taichou tried to get one foot in front of the other without stumbling over air.

"Well, tonight was fun!", she said for no purpose whatsoever. Which may have been the reason he did not bother to say anything in return.

With a slight cluck of her tongue Matsumoto wondered whether alcohol made her taichou even more uptight than he was sober. And if so whether she should use that knowledge for her own personal amusement.

Hitsugaya chose that particular moment to really stumble and almost fall flat on his precious little nose – if not for Matsumoto's vice-like grip on his shoulder. Hauling him up again and towards her he gave a grunt as his face connected with the soft squishiness that he had long since learned were her breasts. With flailing arms he tried to push away but probably did just more damage.

"Calm down, taichou!", Matsumoto said as she steadied him again in front her, hands on his shoulders. "There, everything alright now."

Hitsugaya stared up at her for a moment, then nodded, the blush still quite evident on his face.

Giving him an encouraging smile Matsumoto turned to put her arm around his shoulder and together they continued their way home in silence.

Actually, Matsumoto thought as they reached the entrance to the barracks, her superior was quite a boring drunk. But she should have probably figured that. Hitsugaya Toushirou was too strict, too stubborn, too disciplined to let himself be screwed over by something as trivial as alcohol.

And Matsumoto found admiration for that, somewhere in her own slightly foggy mind.

But she was snapped out of her thoughts by a slight tuck on her sleeve. With raised eyebrows she turned her eyes towards her companion, but he was looking at the wooden floor they were walking on, absently playing with the fabric around the arm that was positioned on his shoulder.

Matsumoto tightened her hold on him a little. "You know what?", she said, but didn't wait for him to actually answer. "I'm thinking about a general overhaul for myself."

Uh, apparently she was more drunk than she thought she was because – where the hell had _that_ come from?

Hitsugaya looked up at her with widened eyes. "Why would you do that?"

Matsumoto shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. It just feels like the right thing to do." And it actually did, right at that moment.

The young taichou fell into silence again, turning his gaze back to the floor. They stopped in front of his quarters, but before she could push him inside, Hitsugaya turned around again, looking at her with serious eyes.

"This is about Ichimaru, isn't it?", he asked, frowning.

Matsumoto actually recoiled. "N-No, it isn't!"

"Then why?"

She laughed a little, a choked sound even to her own ears. "Aw, taichou, you don't need to get so serious about it. It's just ... well, I didn't mean it like that."

Hitsugaya continued staring at her, but swayed dangerously on his feet. With a slight nudge Matsumoto finally steered him inside and moved to help him take off his sword and haori. She found herself actually surprised when he let her.

"You don't need to change yourself only because he is gone now", he stated.

"I know", she replied, "I didn't plan to."

She prepared his bed for him, rolling out his futon and laying out the blanket.

"Thank you", he said and walked over to sit down on it.

Matsumoto knelt down beside him. "Anything else you need, taichou?"

He looked into her eyes, assessing her silently, but then, in a motion all too sudden, he put his hand to the back of her neck and pulled her down alongside him on the futon.

And then they lay there, next to each other in his bed. His eyes were closed as he kept his hand on her neck, thumbing through her hair absently. Matsumoto felt the initial shock subside but couldn't quite determine what she was supposed to do now.

So she decided to stay still and wait, listening to his breath slowly even out.

And just when she thought he had finally fallen asleep he spoke up again, startling her slightly.

"Promise me", he whispered softly, "Promise me you won't leave?"

Matsumoto was taken aback by his words, any sort of reply dying in her throat. He seemed so vulnerable right now, so scared and needy – attributes she would have otherwise never chosen to describe him with.

Reaching out a hand to stroke his cheek she wondered what was going on in his mind.

"Taichou?", she breathed, at last.

"I-I know you loved him, love him, and you took his defection in stride – but you ... Hinamori loved, too, and now she's ... just promise me you stay by my side ..."

"There is no need to promise", she answered, still caressing his cheek. A wave of peculiar emotions rushed through her – something maternal, something amicable, something she wasn't ready to name yet. "You know where my loyalties lie."

"... Thank you."

Then he fell asleep.

Matsumoto kissed his forehead – a show of affection she knew he'd disapprove of had he been aware – before settling back again to watch him sleep.


	3. Differences pt2

**A/N:** Tadaa! What you are about to see is the second (and final) part of Differences!

Another bout of thanks goes to: **Rachel Noelle**, **stormwolf527**, **kazukami**, **indigoia**, **FrozenChaos**, **SoaringHellButterfly**, **Kiome-Yasha** and **renderedvoice**.

Enjoy!

* * *

**#3: Differences (pt.2)**

The next morning brought along a roaring headache, the likes of which Hitsugaya had never known before. He felt like his skull was trying to dissect itself into pieces with a dull scalpel – had he visited Kurotsuchi last night and felt the repercussions only now?

Unfortunately, his memory failed him at the moment, the only thing he did remember was... uh... Yamamoto-soutaichou's speech last evening. And watching Matsumoto twirl around like she didn't have a care in the world.

And then nothing.

But thinking about it just made his headache even more painful so he laid that off until he got himself into some sightly shape. Which meant that he had to get up some time, preferably sooner than later.

He propped himself up on his elbows, only now noticing that he was still wearing his uniform. A fine, white eyebrow raised questioningly, but he decided to let that go for now as well. At least he was in his own bedroom instead of ... in a ditch or something.

And just about then he felt something – or rather someone – stir beside him and a slight bout of panic ran through his system at not having noticed that before.

As it turned out it was Matsumoto lying beside him, sprawled out as if she actually owned the place. Looking at her sleeping body did nothing to ease Hitsugaya's panic. If anything it threw him into a frenzy, having him wrack his brain to find out just what might have happened last night that had them end up together in bed.

Sadly, he wasn't young enough to not think of the most obvious answer first. And accordingly he blushed eight different shades of red.

Matsumoto stirred a little again, turning her face away from the direct source of sunlight – obviously refusing to wake up just yet.

He would help out there gladly.

"MATSUMOTO!"

And the woman bolted upright, her bleary eyes flashing over everything in the room before they settled on him. She too seemed to need some time to get her wits together, and once she did a soft smile appeared on her features.

"Well, ain't that a pleasant surprise, seeing your sour face first thing in the morning, taichou", she quipped good-naturedly.

"What are you doing here?", he asked suspiciously. Maybe he could file for sexual harassment.

Matsumoto seemed to consider him for a long moment before she actually answered. "I ... I think I might have been drunk...", she said, frowning.

"Well, obviously", he deadpanned.

"Hey, you were too!"

Which would explain the throbbing headache and acute memory loss. With a groan Hitsugaya raised a hand to rub at his temple. "Do you know what happened?", he asked, not quite sure if he really wanted to know.

"What do _you _think?, she queried, her most lewd grin whipped into place.

He gulped audibly.

"Nah, just kidding", she said, "We merely went home together after last night's party and since I was too lazy to get to my own room after dumping you here I thought I'd stay. That's it. "

"Thank goodness..."

"You don't need to sound so relieved!"

"Don't make this any more difficult than it has to be, Matsumoto!"

"Nothing difficult about it", she replied and toyed with the collar of her shihakusho invitingly.

Grumbling Hitsugaya got up and dumped the blanket over her head unceremoniously. Straightening out his clothes he decided that a shower was due, if only to get the fuzzy feeling out of his head.

Meanwhile Matsumoto scrambled out from under the blanket, leveling her best puppy-eyed pout at him. "You are mean, taichou!", she accused, "And just when I was trying to be helpful!"

But he was already out of the room, and seconds later the water in the bathroom next door was running.

As expected, the shower brought some clearance and revived his braincells to the point that he actually was able to scrape some memories of the going-ons from last night together.

He was surprised at what he found – and a little embarrassed, to be perfectly honest. It didn't make a difference, of course, because he couldn't take back what was done; but vaguely he was relieved that it had been Matsumoto to whom he'd displayed such weakness.

Anyone else would have been downright mortifying.

But Matsumoto had probably known before his ... slight slip of posture what it was that had been ailing him ever since Aizen decided to be a bitch and screw everything over, most of all Hinamori.

And Matsumoto was, for all intents and purposes, the single person he trusted the most right now.

But then again, what did it say about his personality when his confidant was a busty blond woman who was more often drunk than sober and lazed around her work place?

Ah, well, they _did_ say opposites attract, after all.

He was just grateful he hadn't spilled all his guts just yet.

Because he certainly wouldn't get one peaceful minute again once he admitted that he thought those offerings of hers were actually quite alluring.


	4. Boundaries

**A/N: **So here we go again, the next installment of Per Definitionem. It is a little different from the ones before in that it consists mainly of dialogue (actually solely, except for three or four tiny sentences, but whatever). As a small warning beforehand: In this a few pairings are being mocked. Pairings that, to my surprise, are quite popular in fandom. I find them a little odd but don't actually mind them all that much. To each their own, as they say. I wouldn't read stories featuring them though... And a second thing: In this fic I'm referring to certain events happening in the second Bleach movie, DiamondDust Rebellion. So if you haven't watched it yet, then by all means do so because it is really just awesome. But if you don't want to I'm ready to answer potential questions.

'nuff said now. Have fun with this and please be so kind and do review!

Thanks again to:** Rachel Noelle** and **stormwolf527**, because the two of them are angels who review constantly. Just to let both of you know: it makes me really happy to read your kind words.

* * *

**#4: Boundaries**

"Damn it, Matsumoto! What were you thinking?"

"Uh... not very much at all, sir, I'll admit."

A sigh. "Do you have any idea – even the slightest idea, what you've gotten me into?"

"I already apologized, sir, and I didn't mean any harm."

Drawn-out silence.

"... Let me get this straight then, Matsumoto. You entered the living world without permission? Am I correct?"

"Yes, sir."

"Then you proceeded to break into the Kurosakis' home in the middle of the night?"

"Well... I wouldn't call it breaking in -"

"You entered the house without permission."

"That sounds better."

"Where you destroyed a chair -"

"That was completely unintentional! It was kinda dark and that chair came out of nowhere and attacked me!"

" - and injured Kurosaki Ichigo by punching his jaw."

"..."

"Any explanation for this?"

"Uh.. you see... I hadn't planned on actually hurting him."

"Then what was it you were planning to do?"

"I wanted to talk to him."

"In the middle of the night?"

"Well, yes."

"So what went wrong?"

"You see, I was a little agitated ... and he just didn't shut up. The whole time he was shouting things like 'What the hell do you want here?' and 'How did you get in here?' and 'Get the hell out before I hit you with my baseball bat!'. I couldn't stand for that, now could I?"

"So you punched him?"

"So I did."

"Although you just wanted to talk to him?"

"Well, his whole screaming made the talking part a little difficult..."

"What was it you wanted to talk about, anyway?"

"..."

"Matsumoto."

"I was just kind of ... you know, defending my territory, if you will..."

" ... I will ignore the utter ridiculousness of this statement for now and ask you what the hell you mean."

"I don't think you really want to know..."

A glare.

" ... If you need to know: Renji told me that Rukia told him that, apparently, there are people out there who are convinced you hold a _certain_ interest in Ichigo. And in Hinamori and Yachiru, for that matter, but I felt bad about hunting _them_ down. So Ichigo it was."

"..."

"..."

"Urgh ... well... that certainly is ... mildly disturbing. But ... whatever. You felt the urge to hit Kurosaki because of something like this?"

"Like I said, I didn't plan to hit him, originally. I just wanted to clarify the ... boundaries."

"Boundaries?"

"In the split second of silence I got from him – which was right after I punched him – I told him to keep his dirty hands off my property."

A raised eyebrow. "Your property?"

"Damn straight. And don't you go acting as if you didn't know!"

"... So, in the end, you broke the whole of fourteen of Soul Society's rules in one hour because you were jealous?"

"Well, duh! I felt threatened!"

"_You_ felt threatened?"

"Well, in all honesty – no, not really. I just needed someone to vent some of my frustration on."

"Kurosaki, in this case."

"Yes."

"... Help me here, Matsumoto, because I can't seem to grasp anything you are telling me."

Another sigh.

"Okay, so last night I was out drinking with Renji and Ikkaku. It all started out pretty peachy but somewhere around midnight the both of them tried to get me all riled up by saying stupid things like 'Geez, Rangiku, the Ichigo-brat has already had your taichou in his bed, so what is it you keep doing wrong?' and I was all like 'Pff, Ichigo ain't got nothing on me' and they were like 'Yeah sure, hell'd freeze over before Hitsugaya reacts to those goodies of yours.' and I told them to shut up before my fist accidentally slipped and distorted their ugly mugs. And then they challenged me to stake my claim."

"So you went and bullied a human because Abarai and Madarame provoked you?"

"Hey, they said you'd prefer that substitute shinigami over me!"

"You sound like a child. And by the way, I was suffering from severe injuries when Kurosaki offered me refuge and means to recover."

"But -"

"Matsumoto. I am well aware that you tend to act ... stupid while inebriated, and although I feel inexplicably flattered by your dim-witted actions – you know that I can't let this go without repercussions, don't you?"

"Yes, sir."

"So you'll be working long hours for the rest of this year."

A gasp. "More paperwork? You are evil, taichou!"

A smirk. "And that's why you like me."


	5. Secret

**A/N: **And number 5 is up! It's the shortest one so far and probably the most random, but who cares?XD You'll forgive me anyways because Ikkaku makes another cameo, right? Right! Who doesn't love Baldy? ^3^

Thanks as always to **Rachel Noelle** and **stormwolf527**.

Now please enjoy reading and tell me what you think.  


* * *

**#5: Secret**

"You're coming today, Matsumoto?"

"Ah, sorry, Ikkaku, can't do!"

"What? Why? We haven't seen your face for the past month! And Yumichika is starting to get worried about him being the only woman in our drinking bouts!"

"Aw, that's cute. Tell him I prohibited you by execution to gang-rape him. Being shit-faced doesn't count as excuse. Well then I'll be off. Have a nice time boozing your brains out!"

"It just ain't the same without you! Who'll animate us to start a brawl, to cause pointless destruction?"

"Hey, that's your taichou's jurisdiction, not mine!"

"Yeah, whatever. What got you so busy all of a sudden, anyway?"

"Secret!"

"What? What's up with that?"

"It wouldn't be much of a secret if I told you just like that, now would it?"

"...I could always tell Hisagi you found yourself a boyfriend, you know. He'll be heartbroken beyond repair."

"No, he won't."

"Why so sure?"

"Because he knows that whatever kinds of feelings he might or might not hold for me I wouldn't be able to reciprocate."

"So blackmail won't work?"

"Nope, sorry."

"Tch. Then do what you want. Not like I care."

"Thanks bunches, sweetheart. I'll see you around."

"Yeah, whatever."

*

The few weeks they had spent in the living world had brought a change in the relationship between himself and his fukutaichou he would have never thought possible. A change so drastic, in fact, that Hitsugaya wondered why nobody had noticed anything yet. Or maybe they had and didn't deem it necessary to speak of it?

Although, that was highly improbable. He knew how the grapevine within the Gotei 13 worked and it was fact that once somebody knew any sort of juicy detail it was certain to be spread throughout the whole of the seireitei within only a few hours.

And his fukutaichou always helped that process along nicely.

Except for this time, of course, because shouting their unprofessionalism from the rooftops could very well cost them both their jobs – and they agreed that it was not worth _that_.

But for now it was quite right.

"Ready?", Matsumoto asked, a challenging smile on her lips.

"Bring it on!", he replied, assuming his position.

"Then here I come!", she yelled and struck out.

Hitsugaya had a split second to wonder how one lousy trip to the living world could find the two of them – who were so undeniably and irrevocably different – something they'd both love so ardently.

Then the ball hit the bat.

Ah, the wonders of baseball.


	6. Intimacy

**A/N: **This is some sort of experiment, I'd say, seeing as it doesn't fit with any of the previous installments in any way. But I liked how this turned out, although the shameless misuse of fluff is probably going to hurt your eyes. A lot. Ah, well, whatever.

Exactly 800 words of fluff with no dialogue at all - have fun with this!

Real big thanks to: **stormwolf527**, **Rachel Noelle**, **Thaleron**, **Uzura-chan**, **TheArcanaQuotes **and **Evilhumour Author**.

* * *

**#6: Intimacy**

It is really always a wondrous moment for him whenever she strides into his quarters, her steps purposeful but quiet, her blue eyes glimmering in the dim light of the lamp in his room. She'd be wearing her nightdress already, a simple baby blue yukata with white apple blossoms printed on the hem and the sleeves. Her hair would be damp still from the bath she has taken minutes prior and she would have swept its abundance over a towel-covered shoulder to keep her clothes dry.

Without waiting for his permission she'd enter the room and close the door behind her, and it'd be just as well with him. She has visited often enough by now for them to skip the formalities, at least for this.

There isn't anything special about this, really. It is a little more intimate than what the usual taichou-fukutaichou relationship entails, but more of an homage to their friendship and deep bond of trust rather than anything sexual (but even if their off time spent together would be used for this kind of intimacy he doubts they'd be the first ones to do so).

_This_, however, is simple, and nothing out of the ordinary. She comes to him to get some help drying off and arranging her hair – big deal.

But he can't help himself looking forward to their evening routine – because that is what she has lovingly dubbed it after her visits have become a daily occurrence – it helps him take his mind off whatever has happened that particular day, calm him down so that later sleep wouldn't be quite so elusive.

So she'd sit down, presenting her back to him, and he would automatically assume his position behind her, would lift a section from her hair and start pressing another towel she has brought along to the damp strands, beginning at the tips and slowly working his way to the roots.

And as he'd stroke through her hair she'd be uncharacteristically quiet, her hands in her lap like the obedient little girl she probably never was. They wouldn't talk because if they did it would be about something related to their profession, and they are too comfortable in their little bubble of togetherness to burst it with the needle of reality.

He can feel her relax under his ministrations – he has learned early on that she enjoys having her hair attended to, even if it is just with simple touches like this – and he'd find himself wondering time and time again whether she waits for him to take things further, to transcend that invisible line they have drawn between them.

And gods, how he wants to.

But he is uncertain still, too young and inexperienced to handle this matter confidently, and the signals she is sending him aren't all that clear to him.

So he would finish his work, run the brush through her mane a few times – and she'd be free to go.

Usually she'd thank him with _that_ smile on her lips and leave him to wonder and to long.

But tonight, as soon as his hands fall away from her hair she leans back without even sparing a glance at him – a sign of her utter trust for him – and nestles her head into his lap. He stares at her, his eyes wide in both shock and surprise. But then his lungs remind him that he needs to breathe some time, and so he exhales the breath he has been holding and it brushes her hair and he is mesmerized.

Her eyes are closed and a small sigh escapes her mouth. Instantly his eyes are drawn to the plump form of her lips and again he wonders. What would she feel like? What if he'd just dare?

But then her hand touches his, takes it and brings it up to those plump lips. Kisses it and his heart jumps. He can hear himself groan, a nervous sound, but she doesn't react to it, continues to drop little kisses over the palm of his hand, nips at his pulse point.

He'd like to say something, to tell her, but he is tongue-tied, enraptured by the way her soft, soft skin feels. Does her heart thud like his? Does she feel like her stomach is trying to plunge into her feet? Is the hair at the back of her neck standing up?

Almost of its own volition his other hand comes up and strokes through her hair, something it has done a hundred times before. But now she's facing him, lying in his lap, and it's completely different from before. It feels right, somehow, right in a way that makes him take a deep, steadying breath.

And then he knows this is how it is supposed to be.


	7. Perceptions pt1

**A/N: **Wow... this has been a long time in coming. I'm a little disappointed in myself because I don't even have a good excuse for having taken so long, except that I was awfully uninspired. Oh well, even muses have to take a vacation every once in a while, I guess, so I'm glad mine didn't leave me altogether.

This is going to be another two-shot, obviously, with the second part being already halfway done which means, of course, that the next update will be a lot sooner. ^^°

And after having met Ikkaku in chapter 5 I'm glad to announce that Yumichika will have a major role in this one!X3

Thanks goes to: **Rachel Noelle**,** stormwolf527 **and** Evilhumour Author**.

* * *

**#7: Perceptions (pt.1)**

Her forehead hit the table with a resonant smack, causing her long hair to spill over the wooden surface. Faintly she recognized the sound of a chair being dragged to where she sat but she didn't bother reacting to it.

A soft hand came down on her shoulder.

"Rangiku-san, you should probably stop drinking for today..."

And with astounding speed – at least for someone who was as inebriated as she was at the moment – she whipped her head up again and proceeded to glare at the personification of evil who had dared to spout such blasphemy.

"Yumichika", she said in a scolding tone, "You are talking nonsense..."

In response the be-feathered man scrunched up his nose in semi-hidden disgust. "Look, you've already out-drunk everyone else of our little posse -" Both their eyes flickered over to where Madarame, Hisagi, Abarai and Kira were lying on the ground in a drunken stupor. "- a little more and I'll have to drag you to the 4th division so that they can pump out your stomach. And that's not going to be beautiful."

But Matsumoto only waved his comment aside, grabbing her cup of sake and drowning it in one fell swoop.

Ayasegawa looked at her a little frustrated. "Why does it always have to be me who is the last one left sober?", he mumbled to himself, and could answer the question easily enough – because he knew when to damn freaking stop drinking _before_ passing out.

Pushing that thought aside he concentrated on the blond debacle in front of him again.

"What is it with you anyway?", he asked, "You've been down for the last couple of days – weeks, even."

Matsumoto stared at him (or rather a little to his left) and made a few choking noises that turned into small giggles the longer they went.

Ayasegawa frowned, but didn't say anything else.

As the giggles subsided Matsumoto straightened herself again, pushing her hair behind her shoulders.

"Taichou's been staring at my breasts...", she slurred.

"Along with 99% of Soul Society's male population", Ayasegawa replied, looking faintly bemused.

"But not taichou... he's just ... he's just ... not supposed to stare at my breasts!!"

"I don't know what your problem is, but I'm pretty sure that it isn't illegal for Hitsugaya-kun to take a few glimpses. He's at the right age, after all. And it's not like you bother to hide them, do you?"

There was a slight pause in which Matsumoto set to worry her lower lip intensively. Then: "You are right ... actually I don't mind at all.."

"So what's bothering you?"

With a troubled expression on her features she turned to look at him (directly) and sighed. "I think I like it when he looks at me."

"You like it when he looks at you?"

"That's what I said, so – yeah..."

"Oh. _Oh_."

And Matsumoto saw the world toppling over in front of her very eyes. "But that's just a phase I'm in", she hurried to justify, "Not like I could actually ... I mean ... he's my superior... and he's so damn young ..."

A sinister grin spread over Ayasegawa's face, causing Matsumoto to cringe a tiny bit in fear.

"Is little Ran-chan becoming flustered?"

Matsumoto threw him a dirty look, then turned to gulp down another cup of sake. "And you know what's worst about this situation?"

"What is?"

"I can't stop teasing him!", she said, slamming the cup down, "I mean, you know, he is a normal boy, and he is scooped up with me for almost the entire day and then I go and press his face into my boobs! How evil is that?"

"Pretty evil, actually."

"Yumichikaaa~", she whined desperately, "What should I do now?"

"That depends, I guess."

"On what?"

"What you want to do."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, for starters you could ask yourself why it is that you like it when he's looking at you -"

"That's easy: It's flattering. I like being appreciated, especially when it's coming from someone as stoic as him."

"Even if it's only because natural curiosity has finally gotten the better of him and you're the best and most convenient subject of study?"

"Subject of study? Pfft! I guide him through it the entire way ..." Suddenly, she perked up, as if an ingenious idea had just struck her – which usually wasn't a good sign with Matsumoto. "That means", she said giddily, "that I'll be his first time and every girl that comes after will be compared to me!"

But her giddiness deflated as fast as it had come and with another sigh that displayed her utter distress she pressed her face into her hands.

"I'm a cradle-robber!"

At this Ayasegawa couldn't help but laugh, hiding it behind a hand demurely. He took a few seconds to get his sudden outburst under control and after wiping a tear of mirth away from the corner of his eye he spoke again.

"Aw c'mon, Rangiku-san", he said, his voice still a little shaky, "he is not _that_ young."

She looked at him incredulously. "Not _that_ young? The boy can barely look over my shoulder when standing on tiptoes in front of me."

"Which merely means he is short."

"Yumichikaaa~! That's not good enough!"

He heaved a sigh of frustration. Why was it that people always needed to have the obvious pointed out?

"Listen, Rangiku-san, I don't care about your perception regarding the ideal constellation of couples or whatever it is you base your absurd thoughts on, but I'd like for you to keep in mind that that _boy _you are talking about has reached the top of Soul Society faster than anyone else before him, that there is a group of more than a hundred shinigami under his command, ready to follow his order doubtlessly, that he slays hollows and arrancars and whoever chooses to defy that which he loves and stands for diligently and, lastly, that in accordance to your own words he holds your unreserved trust – all of this despite his young age. So tell me then, Rangiku-san, what is it exactly that lets him appear _too_ young in your eyes?"

Her buzzed brain had some difficulties keeping up with Ayasegawa's long and passionate speech but with every word he said Matsumoto found herself a little more awed by the view he so easily advanced.

But he had always been one to think out of the box, that Ayasegawa Yumichika, and geez, was he being persuasive.

"Damn straight!", she exclaimed (in response to his words or her thoughts, nobody would ever know) and, slamming her hands on the table, pushed herself upright.

Then everything around her went black.


	8. Perceptions pt2

**A/N: **Here it is, part 2 of Perceptions! I'm a little surprised, I have to admit, that this didn't turn out to be as mushy as chapter 6, although it is definitely going in that direction. But considering how Perceptions part 1 started out I just had to continue on the humor-track, rather than living out my romance-kitsch-side... Funnily enough, I like both this and Intimacy almost equally.

Okay, enough with the preface, I hope you'll enjoy this.

**Aaaaaaand thanks goes to: Rachel Noelle**,** stormwolf527 **and** Evilhumour Author**.

(And to answer your question, Rachel: A lot. Like, reeeeeally a lot. XD)

* * *

**#8: Perceptions (pt.2)**

Hitsugaya sat at the window, sipping a cup of steaming hot tea while watching the serene tranquility of the gardens below. While the 10th division was not known for their incredible gardening skills or any such things the sight was pleasant enough to calm down his slightly agitated mind somehow.

And then, of course, Matsumoto had to storm into the office, panting like a dog in the desert – interrupting his one moment of peace brilliantly.

Grudgingly he turned his eyes away from the window and towards his fukutaichou who looked ... a little jazzed.

"You are early", he stated – and it was true, seeing as it was barely past nine in the morning, a time Matsumoto usually considered deep sleep period.

But obviously she was awake for once, albeit still late for the actual start of work, but Hitsugaya was inclined to be lenient. For a few seconds he just watched her standing still in the center of the room, gazing at him with what might have been a contemplating look to her blue eyes.

When she finally did speak it was so fast that Hitsugaya had trouble catching up. Not that she made any more sense once he did. In fact, he was quite sure that Matsumoto was either still drunk or had hit her head pretty hard.

He presumed the former.

"Matsumoto!", he decided to stop her incessant babbling. "I'd appreciate it if you'd actually enunciate the words you are trying to speak."

The blond woman looked at him another few seconds before she straightened herself out, a smile blooming on her lips.

"Okay, listen", she said, "I've had a little heart-to-heart-talk with Yumichika last night – which of course involved a lot of alcohol, but I'm pretty sure I still know the gist of what we were talking about after Ikkaku, Shuuhei, Izuru and Renji had all passed out – the point is, Yumichika actually offered some sort of advice that proved to be useful."

Hitsugaya let that stream of information settle in his quick brain and found something about it striking him as decidedly odd.

"You go to Ayasegawa for advice?", he asked incredulously.

"Well, he has some knowledge concerning styling and – aargh .. so not the point!" With a huff she strode over to where Hitsugaya sat on the window ledge, crossing her arms under her chest (which definitely put too much emphasize on what didn't need to be emphasized at all).

"Like I said", she started again, "I was talking with Yumichika last night and he helped me figure out some things I felt ... uncertain about."

For a second, a fraction of a second, Hitsugaya actually felt a little miffed that she hadn't come to him for help. But since he still wasn't quite sure what she really was talking about he let that thought go almost instantly.

"He explained to me that my problem wasn't that my sanity was slowly eroding – which I thought had been the case – but my stupid urge to comply to society's perception of what is good and righteous. Which, if you remember, I'd never cared about before."

Feeling compelled to nod his head and shake it at the same time, Hitsugaya settled for putting his cup down beside him and deepening his frown.

"And so he helped me reach a conclusion", she stated proudly.

Hitsugaya found himself both anxious and apprehensive to find out what it was she was so agitated about, but Matsumoto only looked at him with an impish grin. Warily he searched her face for some sort of hint but found none. What the hell was she talking about?

"What kind of conclusion?", he asked tentatively.

Her grin spread enormously as she crossed what little distance was left between them, grabbed the collar of his haori and yanked him towards her.

And Hitsugaya felt his heart skip a beat when her lips touched his, those sweet, sweet lips that had played quite the active part in his dreams for a while now. But, gods, the real deal was so much better than what his inexperienced subconsciousness could ever provide and – was that her tongue?

It was.

The blood rushed through his veins, coloring his cheeks and the tips of his ears pink as Matsumoto continued to work her magic on him, slipping her tongue through his lips and brushing his own. She was skilled, no doubt, and made no secret of it, offering him guidance where she knew he was a bit at a loss.

And wasn't he just totally at a loss here?

He felt her pushing closer to him, invading his personal space ruthlessly – like she was prone to do, and he found that he had nowhere left to escape to after his back hit the window. Her hands came up to caress his cheeks, slide down his neck and up into his white shock of hair, angling his head to her contentment.

He couldn't help but moan into her mouth when she deepened the kiss, drawing him closer into her web of seduction, into a spectrum of entirely new sensations.

Somewhere in the back of his head a little voice nagged that this wasn't the right place to this, nor the right time and probably not even the right person to do it with, but Hitsugaya found that he didn't care much. This was decidedly to good to just pass up.

And just when he had managed to silence that voice by killing it dead Matsumoto decided to pull away all of a sudden, leaving him to look at her wide-eyed; and maybe a tad uncomfortable, because wasn't he the adult in their partnership, and shouldn't he be the one to prevent such ... things from happening?

Despite his upcoming doubts his hands stayed perched on her waist (where they had settled when he wasn't looking) and she didn't make a move to cut off their loose embrace.

"So", she stated with a slight smile, stroking a hand through his hair, "Do you think Yumichika might have been right?"

Hitsugaya answered with a growl of annoyance and pulled her close again for another kiss.

Great, now he owed that Ayasegawa one...


	9. Märchen

**A/N: **So, well. Another installment for Per Definitionem (another one that took me ages to upload T^T). There isn't much to say about it, except that it's probably pretty silly, just a pointless conversation between Matsumoto and Hitsugaya. ^^°

Just one thing beforehand: This indirectly features Hinamori and the relationship she has to Hitsugaya (as in growing up together and stuff). As some of you might know I'm not a fan of the HitsuHina-pairing, but that doesn't mean I don't like Hinamori. As a matter of fact I do, and I like the whole package she delivers, with her semi-fanaticism, her constant hysterics and the confusion Aizen throws her into. I know that she is disliked by a lot of people, but to me she seems to be one of the most human characters of the story precisely because she reacts the way she does to having someone she loved so ardently turn his back on her.

So while we all know that Matsumoto and Hitsugaya are made for each other, you won't find me bashing Hinamori just because.

...

...

Well, now that that's settled I let you off to read the latest product of my odd mind. Enjoy!

* * *

**#9: Märchen**

All of a sudden Matsumoto has found herself a new hobby.

Hitsugaya watches the development with some measure of curiosity and skepticism, because somehow seeing his fukutaichou's nose buried in a book is decidedly strange, especially since she has taken to even read while walking.

On the other hand, it might be a step for her in the right direction. Instead of sleeping, drinking, snoozing or being overall unproductive she actually does something to cultivate her intellect, and Hitsugaya wouldn't want to stifle her in any way.

He wouldn't dare to hazard a guess, though, as to what it is she is actually reading. A collection of fairy tales, he knows, a tome of a book courtesy of one Inoue Orihime. But he has never been interested in children's literature, nor has it ever proven to be of any importance for him, so he is forced to just listen to her snickers and gasps and _ooohs_ and _aaahs _throughout their workdays, with her barely ever glancing up from the book, much less doing any work at all. (But he is used to the latter, so there is no real adjustment needed from his part.)

It doesn't annoy him exactly, nor does he feel the urge to rejoice over her new-found diversion. It leaves him to wonder a little, because just seeing her leaf through a book is a sight he wants to engrave into his mind in case she changes hobbies again tomorrow and he might never see her do something like this again.

But she proves to be steady in her devotion (and _that_ he should have known beforehand, really) and works her way through the stories determinedly, showering him with ignorance – something he finds himself surprisingly bad at getting used to. Where before he'd been the center of her attention almost 24/7 (to his chagrin, many a times) he is now virtually nonexistent in her universe which only reaches as far as the cover of her book at the moment.

It makes him uncomfortable to not have her bugging him in any way, shape or form and he is inclined to discipline himself with thirty laps around the seireitei just for that thought. He consoles himself with the fact that like human, shinigami are creatures of habit, and Matsumoto's sudden change of hers has him reeling to get his straight again.

But he isn't self-deceptive enough to miss the wave of relief that washes through him as he sees her finish the last sentence on the last page, and the sigh that escapes his lips as she closes the book with a soft thud.

Holding his breath he waits for her reaction to returning to the real world so suddenly after such a long absence. But she merely blinks a few times, shifts her position on the couch so that she sits straight again with the book still resting in her hands, and a soft smile lingers on her lips.

Then she clears her throat and looks directly at him, and he is almost surprised that she actually knows he is in a room with her.

"Well", she says, tapping her fingers against the book's cover, "that was interesting."

Releasing his breath through his nose Hitsugaya can barely suppress the sarcastic comment waiting to be spat. Not that he is in a bad mood or anything, he is just a little ... well ... nobody likes to be ignored, okay?

While he battles his inner scumbag to keep him silent Matsumoto leans her head against the back of the couch and looks up at the ceiling as though contemplating.

"There was something that reminded me of you", she says after a few seconds, distracting him from his inner rant quite easily.

"Huh?", he returns eloquently, his inner scumbag temporarily mollified by the fact that she had at least been thinking of him. Hitsugaya is surprised at what little is needed to mollify him.

Matsumoto sets to explain, her eyes still fixed on the ceiling. "There was this story about a kidnapped maiden", she explains, "and she was guarded by a dragon, so powerful and ferocious that no man dared to go up against him."

"And I'm the dragon...", he says, a little annoyed by the obviousness of her train of thought.

"Well, duh", she replies.

"I've never kidnapped anyone."

"I'm talking in metaphors, taichou, metaphors. And I didn't say the dragon kidnapped her. An evil witch did, she stole the maiden and tricked the dragon to kill anyone who tried to rescue her."

"So?"

"Aw, taichou, don't you see? You are the dragon, except that you are not as barbarous, and Hinamori is the maiden, except that she is not quite as helpless, and your grandmother is the witch, except that she is not evil, judging from what I know of her. And that she didn't trick you into guarding Hinamori, only asked you to do so."

Hitsugaya feels confused by what she is saying. "Where are you going with this?", he asks, looking at her skeptically.

Turning her head a little to look at him Matsumoto smiles again. "Did you know that five different guys told me on five different occasions that they would ask Hinamori out on a date if they didn't fear your wrath being unleashed upon them?"

Hitsugaya coughs. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"That you are acting like Hinamori's father. And occasionally like mine, too."

With a frown Hitsugaya turns that statement over in his head. While he agrees with the second part all the way, since someone _has_ to keep an eye on Matsumoto and her irresponsible antics, he is inclined to deny acting fatherly towards Hinamori in any way. A little protective, maybe, seeing as she is family (if not by blood) and the value of family had always held a high standard in his mind.

But it's not as if he wouldn't want Hinamori to find her significant-other-that-is-not-Aizen, because she deserves as much and he's not going to be the one standing in her way. And in much the same respect he wouldn't want for just anybody to lay his dirty fingers on Hinamori because -

It hits him like a lightning bolt then. He _is_ acting like a father, straight out of the picture book, and he never even noticed. And the signs are so obvious and do not even stop at his protective streak towards her: his constant worrying about her, his subconscious need to patronize her, to show her the right way, his whole attitude towards her – and all of this barely even covers the tip of the iceberg. When he gets down to it, he concedes, he might have been acting like this right from the beginning, simply because growing up with an old lady and a girl like Hinamori would probably make any male slip into the role of the patriarch by default. And since it had been a subconscious decision to do so it never occurred to him that he might give off that very image to others as well.

Rubbing his forehead he comes to the conclusion that this is nothing that could or should be used against him, because he merely has been acting in Hinamori's best interest up until now.

He promises improvement anyway, if only because he knows what it feels like to be treated like a child when you are obviously and deservedly playing for the adults' team already. And although he doesn't want to let her out of his sight completely just yet, mainly because despite everything that has happened he still considers her his sister, he is willing to give her a little more space and step down from his father- and back into his brother-role.

(But his promise only applies for Hinamori, Matsumoto is in no state to be left to her own devices in any way.)

"So it took you 800 pages of fairy tales to be able to tell me that?", Hitsugaya asks after a moment, slightly bemused at the turn their conversation has taken.

Matsumoto shrugs her shoulders. "It's not like you are doing a bad thing, and I'm almost positive I'd support you if that didn't mean I'd be acting motherly. Which, as you know, is something I just don't do. But Soul Society rips the innocence off us early enough, so I think it's good to have someone trying to maintain at least a little bit of it for you."

He swears he tries to, but he can't quite stop the surprise her statement elicits from showing on his face. She catches it and her smile widens.

"Didn't expect that, did you?", she says good-naturedly.

"No, that's not it", he is quick to reply, "I know that you tend to ponder about almost everything, but it is a rare event when you actually choose to share those deep thoughts with me."

"Hm. Don't want to make you more worried than you already are, I guess... But if you want me to talk to you about these things more often I'm happy to oblige."

He smiles a little to himself and rounds his desk to approach her. "Talk about what exactly?", he asks as he comes to a halt next to the couch, "Fairy tales?"

"Why not?", Matsumoto quips, "They leave a lot of room for interpretation, after all."

"Which you have proven quite splendidly only minutes ago."

"I know I'm awesome."

"And modest."

With a wide grin Matsumoto looks up at him. "I'm such a good person, I'm almost scared of myself."

Hitsugaya decides to ignore that statement completely. "So since you are so good with interpretation", he says, crossing his arms in his sleeves, "what exactly is your role in our little fairy tale of not-really-kidnapped maidens and villains that are actually nice grandmothers?"

Matsumoto purses her lips in contemplation. "I didn't think about that", she says, "but since I'm kinda on your side by default I just might be your useless little sidekick, you know, like those droll gnomes that try to be evil but turn out to only serve for comical relief."

"But didn't you just try to deter the evil dragon from his task of guarding the maiden?"

"Did I?"

"You certainly made him aware of what kind of strain it puts on the maiden to be monitored all the time."

"So I'm the knight in shining armor, after all? The one who rescues the maiden from the dragon's evil clutches and rides off with her into the sunset? Is Hinamori into girls?"

At this Hitsugaya's eyebrows crawl up into his hairline. "You didn't just ask that, did you? Hinamori is far too young for your level of seduction."

Grinning widely Matsumoto shifts so that her rump is leaning against the armrest of the couch. Hitsugaya takes the invitation for what it is and sits down beside her.

"And here I thought I'd uncover one of your deepest fantasies...", she purrs.

But his composure doesn't slip for even a second. "You have a dirty, dirty mind, Matsumoto, and I'd be worrying for mine would I harbor any fantasies for a member of my family."

"I'm not a member of your family."

For only a second a somewhat wicked gleam enters his eyes, one she would have missed hadn't she been looking at him directly at that exact moment, and the grin that curls his lips has her perk up immediately.

"Uuuh, taichou!", she exclaims and leans into him eagerly, "Details, details! What kind of fantasies?"

But Hitsugaya remains silent, looking at her challengingly, and wonders whether she actually expects him to just blurt out something like this so easily. And considering that this is Matsumoto, after all, he is quite certain that the answer to that question would be a definite yes.

"Aw c'mon, taichou", she pouts.

Still no reaction.

So she changes tactics. Leaning her upper body even further forward, resting her weight on her hands on the couch so that her breasts look just about to spill from her shihakusho (more so than usual, anyway), she schools her expression into one that promises pleasures beyond any man's wildest dreams.

"Taichou", she breathes, "I know I can make those fantasies become reality..."

Admittedly, Hitsugaya has a little trouble to keep himself composed, now that she uses her weapons so deftly, but after having spent so much time around a woman like Matsumoto Rangiku it'd be a confession of failure would he lose his grip on sanity when merely being teased.

So he simply strokes a hand through her hair, then pulls her in for a kiss that is short and sweet – nothing that'd hold a promise of taking things any further.

"Tell me?", she whispers as they separate again, the words ghosting over his lips.

Hitsugaya looks at her for a few seconds before the same small grin from before returns to his lips.

"No", he says, gets up and walks back to his desk without sparing her another glance.

Matsumoto looks after him, gaping, and he is hard pressed not to pat himself on the back in triumph.

And really, Matsumoto should have seen this coming, what with her not having bothered to do as much as look at him for almost an entire week.

We reap what we sow, as they say.


	10. Chemistry

**A/N:** Not much to say, really. Except maybe that this is taking place when Hitsugaya, Matsumoto, Renji, Rukia, Yumichika and Ikkaku are visiting Ichigo to help him fight the big bad arrancars. And that you might expect a second part sometime in the near future (though I'm not too sure...)

Many thanks (because I forgot the last time - shame on me) go to:** Absolutely Unsure,**** Rachel Noelle, KatonRyuuka, Evilhumour Author, stormwolf527, kriitikko, Illegitimi, HitsuMatsuFan, phppsmss**, that anonymous person (you know who you are XD) and all the other people who keep reading this stuff.

Well then, on we go! Have fun!

* * *

**#10: Chemistry**

_Clonk._

School, Matsumoto finds thirty seconds into the very first chemistry lesson of her afterlife, is rather obnoxiously boring.

_Clonk._

One would think that a place stuffed with hundreds of hormonal brats and a bunch of overworked and underpaid teachers would be a little more exciting.

_Clonk._

But to her disappointment school in the living world does not differ so much from what she knows the Shinigami Acadamy to be like, a place distinguished by its abhorrently synchronized routine that leaves little to no space for anything even remotely fun.

_Clonk._

And since Matsumoto is kind of allergic to boredom she occupies herself with kicking the chair of the person sitting in front of her while the teacher whose name she'd already forgotten drones on and on about formulas and reactions.

_Clonk. _

"Could you stop that?" Ichigo barks over his shoulder, loud enough for the teacher to stop his monotone lecture and stare first at Ichigo, than her questioningly.

A smile pulls on Matsumoto's lips as every student's attention is focused on them as well and provocatively she leans forward in her seat. "Sure, hon", she purrs just as loud and sees the teacher's face redden, while Ichigo merely leans away in annoyance.

Spluttering the teacher picks up where he left off (or at least tries to) and the other teenagers shift their eyes back on their textbooks or whatever they were occupied with prior their little episode.

With a sigh Matsumoto rests her chin on her right hand and turns her gaze to the window to watch the little puffy clouds in the clear blue sky.

Maybe she could get her taichou (who's currently sitting beside her and killing time in much the same manner as her) to go shopping with her for once.

Not that he'd make a good companion for mundane things like that, anyway.

But, honestly, she is a little desperate here, seeing as she hasn't been able to get herself pleasantly boozed in her small circle of drinking buddies for over ... well, five days already. And that is to be considered a personal record for her.

And her taichou could probably use a diversion just as much as she does.

So with a sly smile she turns her attention towards the white mop of hair beside her.

"Let's go on a date, taichou", she says, this time a little more sensitive as to what volume is appropriate in a classroom.

But Hitsugaya doesn't even bother prying his gaze from the window. "Why ever would I want to do that?", he asks rather coldly.

Matsumoto isn't deterred.

"Because, my dear, clueless pupil", she says, using her best I-am-older-therefore-I-know-better-voice on him, "being seen with me in public will boost your standing with your classmates exponentially. Some of the boys in this room would certify this, as I overheard them talking about it when they thought I wasn't in earshot."

Sighing Hitsugaya finally turns his face away from whatever has held his gaze up until now to look at his subordinate sitting beside him. "Do you ever even listen to yourself?"

"I try not to. I find my voice to be slightly annoying."

This actually has one corner of his mouth tuck upwards slightly. "Whatever", he says, twisting in his seat so that he faces her entirely, "You actually think I have any inclination to ... 'boost my standing with my classmates', as you put it? To me it seems rather pathetic to use the one you are seeing as means to improve your status among people who claim to be your friends."

"Uh, well, yeah", she answers, her face crunching up in dismay, "You might be kinda right. But, taichou, dating is what adolescence is all about nowadays. Don't you think we should at least try to assimilate? It's not like you are actually going to brag about it to anyone anyway, right? Besides, we've been here for almost a week, and we haven't even done anything remotely fun."

"Fun, Matsumoto? We are on a mission."

"But even Shinigami need a little reprieve every now and again. And it's not like we'll be away for longer than a few hours."

"Matsumoto."

"Please?"

"No."

"Pwetty pwease?"

"Matsumoto!"

She continues pouting at him silently, knowing that it does have the desired effect on him when he sighs and leans back in his chair.

"Don't you have anyone else you can pester with your antics?"

Her pout solidifies into an expression of utter distress. "But, taichou", she whimpers, "You are the only one who makes my heart race with all your handsomeness and masculine dominance – see?"

And without waiting for a response from him she grabs the hand that has been resting on his thigh listlessly, and pushes it against the top of one of her half-bare breasts, making sure that it touches skin rather than the white fabric of her school uniform.

The room emits a collective gasp, each and every student probably sensing that something indecent is happening right now, right in front of their eyes, or behind their backs, or just to their left – and turning towards its source instinctively.

And heavy silence descends over the room as each and every eye is fixed on the male hand on the very female breast.

"Dude!", the student sitting behind Hitsugaya says as he leans forward to inspect the crime scene a little closer, "Does she do this often?"

Rolling his eyes and rather used to being exposed to her breasts Hitsugaya gives the tiniest squish to the plump flesh, only to elicit the very same reaction from the room as before – a collective gasp. Matsumoto, for her part, stays very still during the whole incident, only smiling a little in that cat-ish way of hers.

"Regularly", Hitsugaya finally answers, smirking, "But she's picky about who is allowed to touch her, so I wouldn't try it if I were you."

Probably recognizing the subliminal threat for what it is the boy sits back into his chair and fixes his eyes on the blackboard.

Matsumoto's smile widens.

The teacher clears his throat then, a nervous sound. "Well", he rasps, "That is definitely not proper conduct, Matsumoto-san, Hitsugaya-san, and I'm afraid I have to ask you two to leave the room immediately..."

Watching as her taichou gets up without a word of complaint, Matsumoto can't help the full-blown smile that latches onto her face as the hand she has still wrapped around his wrist forces her to get up as well and follow him out, lest she has to let go.

They walk towards the door together, and Hitsugaya does nothing to sever their connection, not even after they exit the room and the door falls shut behind them. And even though the both of them are aware that they are being punished, not exempt from school, they continue walking down the hallways and away from the classroom without a hitch to their stride.

Somewhere in-between Hitsugaya switches from being the one held onto to holding her hand himself and Matsumoto thinks that she'll never get the laugh lines out of her face again.

When they exit the building altogether he turns to her again, an almost impish grin on his lips.

"So after staging our escape so brilliantly", he says and forestalls her pending protest – because they both know it would be an outright lie anyway – by asking: "Where do you want to go?"


	11. Gravitation

**A/N:** This could probably be considered the sequel of the previous chapter, but could stand alone just as well, I guess, hence the different chapter title. All things considered, it could probably even be a very, very late follow-up to chapter 1, if you squint a little... Hm, whatever.

As always, thanks to: **KatonRyuuka, Rachel Noelle, stormwolf527, Absolutely Unsure, lelouchgirl, phppsmss **and** shiro677**.

And one question this chapter left me with that I want to hand on to you: Is Matsumoto physically capable of doing cartwheels? XD

Have fun reading.

* * *

**#11: Gravitation**

Contrary to popular belief and whatever 99% of Soul Society consider an established fact, in all their decades of working together Hitsugaya has never once seriously thought of having Matsumoto transferred to another division, much less having her revoked of her position as fukutaichou.

They have had their rough patches all right, just like any other division's heads had at some point in time (and some still have even now), but between the two of them they have always made it a point to sort out their discrepancies before they could ruin their efficiency as a team.

And finding her strong points isn't as hard as others might expect.

For one, she is sensitive to other people and their varied moods, she knows instinctively when to go easy on someone and when to give him or her a shove into the right direction. She is a quick thinker as well as a loyal companion, but never crossing the line to the point of becoming dependent. She maps out strategies (good ones at that) rather than surge ahead in a battle heedlessly, but when it comes down to fighting she is efficient, almost mercilessly so.

Hitsugaya, for his part, and even though he would never, not even under torture, admit to it, enjoys her company immensely. He likes talking to her, loves snapping at her whenever she has gone and done something incredibly stupid again (or for just dumping all of her paperwork on him again), and completely relies on her to have his back at any point in time.

He trusts her like no second individual, probably himself included.

Sure, she wears her (considerable) flaws out in the open for everyone and their mother to see, wallows in her vices like nobody's business and expects people to like her anyway.

Surprisingly enough, they do.

And it's precisely because she doesn't bother to hide her short-comings, doesn't try to be someone she isn't, that people feel at ease around her.

Or maybe it is merely his biased perception of her that makes him find rights in her wrongs...

Whatever it is, it doesn't exactly help him right now, as he sits in the grass of a park somewhere in Karakura town and watches her do cartwheels like a ten-year-old.

So the sun is shining, and the day is warm enough to warrant some outdoor activities – but is it really necessary to frisk around like that?

And really, Hitsugaya finds himself beyond surprised that she doesn't mind flashing her panties and probably a little _too much _of her breasts to everyone in the vicinity, seeing as she is still wearing that short short school uniform of hers.

Not that he is looking, mind you.

But they _are_ in the middle of a freaking park in broad daylight, surrounded by a bunch of people who probably aren't used to seeing ... rather well-developed high school girls flip and jump around in scanty clothes like that.

It obviously doesn't bother her at all, however, as she continues her workout diligently, and all his reprimanding and ordering goes unheard. Which, in the end, is just as well, because this way at least he can continue enjoying his ice cream in comparative peace.

But even Matsumoto tires out eventually, and as she plops down beside him with a satisfied grunt a slight sheen of sweat is covering her skin.

And again, he is _not_ looking.

"What's it with you anyway?", he asks instead, "I haven't seen you this energetic in ... well, years probably."

Matsumoto giggles and leans back to stretch out on the grass.

"Must be the weather or something", she answers, her eyes closed to the sunlight, "Either that or the living world inspires me this much..."

He looks at her, one eyebrow raised in disbelief. "How so?"

She hums a little, fiddling the shrilly pink scrunchy that held her mane together in her acrobatic endeavor out of her blond locks. "I don't know. I just like it here. Life here is loud, gaudy, fast... It's exhilarating to see things change from one minute to the next..."

Hitsugaya leans back on his elbows and watches the sky above before his eyes refocus on her again. "To me it seems rather superficial and vacuous."

The corners of her mouth twitch a little in what might be the prelude to a small smile. "As opposed to what? Soul Society doesn't exactly shine with its depth, does it?"

"At least it has a purpose, instead of having its inhabitants running around searching for the meaning of life."

"Except for those without reiatsu who spent their days waiting for better days, who are not even given the chance to improve their life on their own power."

Her tone is bitter, and although Hitsugaya isn't entirely certain what her past had been like, he knows that she is talking out of experience.

"Then you'd prefer this ... wild-goose chase that is constantly taking place here over at least a measure of steadiness?", he asks, honestly bewildered.

"Do I?", she counters, wonderingly, "... It's a moot point anyway, since I'm still too much of a good girl for Yamamoto-chan to just kick me out like that, and I'm not really convinced that the forced relocation has changed Urahara-san's or Yoruichi-san's or even the Vizard's life for the better, in the grand scheme of things, seeing as they belong neither here nor there now ... but as far as normal life in the living world goes, for now it's nice, this change of pace."

He takes a moment to mull her words over in his head. Neither of the two have ever known Urahara Kisuke, Shihoin Yoruichi or any of the Vizards personally before they had to leave Soul Society permanently, but everybody has somehow come into knowledge of at least part of their stories, however confidential those might be, seeing as it had been a rather deep cut into Soul Society's history.

And he has to agree with Matsumoto in that they are still lingering somewhere halfway between here and there, even though they have lived here for a century already. Or maybe because they have lived here for a century already. Banished from Soul Society, but still not fitting for the living world... Must have been rather difficult to come to terms with.

With a sigh Hitsugaya tugs on a blade of grass until it comes loose in his hands.

"So we do at least agree that having some sort of fixed point in your life is a necessity for everyone?", he asks.

"Yup, we do", she agrees readily, "I mean, everybody has his moment of weakness, however often, and where'd he turn when there isn't anywhere to turn to?"

"Where would Matsumoto Rangiku turn to?", he asks, half jokingly.

She smiles wider than, but keeps her eyes shut. "As if that needs asking", she says after a few seconds.

Hitsugaya turns his eyes to the sky again, a smile of his own lingering on his lips.

They should probably do that date-thing more often.


	12. Initiation pt1

**A/N: **So first things first: This is the first chapter of what will be a little arc of at least six or so chapters. It's taking place way in the past, when Hitsugaya was first appointed taichou. I took a whole lot of liberty with timelines, ranks and the workings within the Gotei 13. So if you find anything implausible blame wikipedia for not explaining it properly XD

Then, thanks all over again to: **shohei, shiro677, Rachel Noelle, KatonRyuuka, Thaleron** and **Tsumetai Tsubame**.

And that's that. Have fun reading!

* * *

**#12: Initiation (pt.1)**

"Listen, folks!", Matsumoto called to the bunch of tenth division officers flocking in front of her, somehow appointing herself the leader of the pack even though she was obviously outranked by at least half of them. Still the crowd of rowdy men (and the occasional woman) quieted down immediately and Matsumoto took the time to indulge herself in a dramatic pause.

The officers' curiosity was peaked, of course, and clearing her throat Matsumoto pulled herself up to her full height.

"The seemingly eternal era of our division being without leader has finally come to an end", she intoned gravely, her audience captivated, "After almost three decades of anarchy Yamamoto-soutaichou found someone worthy of being the tenth's next taichou!"

A collective cheer erupted from the crowd and the pumping of fists into the air made Matsumoto grin with glee.

"The time has come for the tenth division to return to her former glory!", she exclaimed and the shouts of joy were deafening.

But they remembered where they were at the moment and quieted down before they made anyone aware of their presence at the first division's compound. Staring up at the tall door that read the kanji for one they once again started to speculate who it could be they'd serve under from now on, everybody talking all at once, trying to drown the others' voices out.

The rumor had made the round for almost three months by now, but unfortunately these kind of matters were handled in strict confidence. Everyone in and around the seireitei knew that a division without taichou was restricted at best, and defective at worst. And, looking at it the other way around, an incompetent leader could bring down a whole division as much as not having one could do. That was why Yamamoto-soutaichou was meticulous in his search, and precise in his selection procedure.

But the tenth division had long since grown frustrated from being left out of important decisions, grand events and dangerous missions, just because they lacked that one significant person that would be responsible for all the decisions within.

After what had happened in Soul Society's recent history, the event that had left a lot of holes to be filled in the top ranks of a lot of divisions, it was more than comprehensible that finding new capable people to do the job wasn't an easy task. But after appointing Kurotsuchi Mayuri as taichou of the twelfth division four years prior, the tenth was the last one to be left unattended, and it was a state its members would rather not prolong any amount of time.

That was why the seated officers of said division, after a stroke of genius from one Matsumoto Rangiku, currently sixth seat, had come to the first division compound to try to get a glimpse on what their imminent future held.

But sooner rather than later they were growing bored of standing around, so it was decided that they'd return to the tenth and await their new leader's arrival patiently (and continue to prepare the party that was going to take place tonight).

And as much as Matsumoto wanted to take part in the preparations she opted for staying for a little longer, just to attempt for one last time to satisfy her curiosity. Watching her comrades go until they were out of sight, she then turned around and ducked into the gardens of the first division where she climbed a rather tall apple tree. From there she jumped onto the roof of the main building, landing as gently as possible. Estimating where she was standing right now she took a few more steps to the right and got down on hands and knees, crawling towards the edge of the roof. As carefully as possible she lay down flat, leaning halfway over the edge, so that it pressed into her stomach rather unpleasantly. But she wasn't to be deterred so easily.

She slowly angled her upper body downwards until it was parallel to the wall, enabling her to peer into the high windows of the building. Her blood already started to rush into her head as Matsumoto was still trying to get used to the reversed perspective, errant strands of hair falling into her face on their way down to obey gravity's rules (and for the moment she was glad that she had yet to give in to the notion to let her hair grow out). Her hands were clamped on the roof's edge and she wasn't going to let go before she was upright again.

Sweeping her gaze along the length of the room she was so shamelessly peering into she saw the familiar figures of all taichou in office sitting in two parallel lines, half of them facing her, the other half presenting their backs to her. A few fukutaichou were present as well, residing at the walls a few feet behind their superiors. All of them were looking towards the front of the room where she knew Yamamoto-soutaichou to be, even though her position didn't allow for her to actually see him.

He was talking, that much she could tell, but she couldn't distinguish the words he was speaking and so she had no clue what was going on at the moment, since she had never attended any initiation ceremony for a taichou. What she knew was that she couldn't see her new superior from her position either and that really sucked.

For a moment she contemplated swinging herself up again and retrying the whole process from another point a few meters to the right. But then she caught sight of somebody moving and her eyes automatically jumped to the pink haori somewhere around the center of the room.

Kyouraku-taichou.

She had gotten to know him personally through Ise Nanao, a former classmate of hers who had climbed the ranks within her division faster than Matsumoto could ever dream of doing (mostly because she didn't show even a fraction of Ise's diligence most of the time). And even though they were in different divisions, Matsumoto made it a point to meet the other girl as often as possible, which meant that she met Kyouraku-taichou just as often, seeing as Ise was his freshly appointed fukutaichou.

And really, they were kind of cute together, what with his permanently laid-back and happy-go-lucky attitude, and her being so uptight and studious all of the time.

It was a match made in heaven, really.

Kyouraku waved towards Matsumoto, then, a wide grin plastered on his face, and since her hands were still occupied otherwise she merely inclined her head, not even the slightest bit ashamed of being caught red-handed.

Nodding her head to the left and raising her eyebrows in question she tried to get him to tell her something about the person she wanted to see so badly.

He got the hint, of course, and gave her a thumbs-up and a wide grin, both so obviously blatant that the taichou around him were turning to look at him questioningly.

Matsumoto quickly snapped herself back up before she was caught by the others as well, and fled.


	13. Initiation pt2

**A/N: **Part two! In which Matsumoto is an active feminist, Sasakibe Chojiro makes a cameo, a few other people are introduced and Hitsugaya is his usual grumpy self! Well, if that doesn't sound fun... 8D

A very great thanks to: **phppsmss, Rachel Noelle, KatonRyuuka **and** lelouchgurl**.

Happy reading! X3

* * *

**#13: Initation (pt.2)**

When Matsumoto returned to her division the party that was supposed to be prepared was actually already in full swing – and really there was no helping it, seeing as it had been too long a time since the tenth division had any cause to celebrate.

With a smile she wove her way through the mass of bodies, searching for the highest-ranking officer (for not much longer), Tanabe Seiichi, the third seat ever since the beginning of Soul Society, probably. He was a sturdy man, big and muscular, with gray hair and wrinkles like plow furrows. And as old as he was, as set was he in his ways, which naturally had him and Matsumoto clash more often than what was necessary. But other than that, they were pretty much ... acquaintances. Somewhat.

"Tanabe-san", she chirped happily, ruthlessly interrupting the discussion he had had with the men around him. Looking up and fixing his small eyes on her he inclined his head slightly in greeting.

"What is it, Matsumoto?", he asked in his gruff voice.

"I was just wondering, Tanabe-san", she answered, entirely unfazed, "What if the new taichou was a woman?"

There was a dramatic widening of eyes all around her and Matsumoto had to stifle the laughter that threatened to spill over. Chauvinists, the whole bunch of them.

"What makes you think that?", Tanabe countered, meeting her gaze evenly.

"Ah, well, you know. Equal rights and stuff. Should have reached Soul Society by now as well."

The man around her guffawed, and Matsumoto felt a little tendril of anger coil in her stomach. But she'd play it cool for now.

"Why not?", she asked, feigning curiosity, "Both the second and the fourth division have a woman as a leader, and they seem to be operating just fine."

"Well", the man to her right, Ooka Sanosuke, answered, "Soifon is probably much more of a man than anyone else in her division. And the fourth is the healer's division."

_That_ explained everything, of course... But Matsumoto's smile didn't slip for even a second.

"What about the fact that, even still now, barely 10% of the Gotei 13's military force is female? Where is the justice in that?"

Tanabe patted her on the back in an amicable gesture, an expression of compassion on his features. "Nowhere", he said and actually sounded somewhat sorry about it, "And that fact isn't going to change in the imminent future. Besides, _Hitsugaya Toushirou_ doesn't exactly sound like a woman's name, now does it?"

Well, he had a point there. If anything, Matsumoto admitted to herself, it sounded like the name of an old grumpy man not unlike Tanabe himself. For a moment she indulged herself in a fantasy of Tanabe and a man looking almost exactly like him sitting in the administrative office, playing shogi or go all day, stroking their beards ceaselessly while discussing their old war wounds. Or something.

With a sigh Matsumoto decided to excuse herself to find a little ... less biased audience, but just about then a creepy hush fell over the room and all eyes turned towards the door where Sasakibe Chojiro stood solemnly.

For a single terrified second Matsumoto was actually struck with the idea that _he_ was going to be their new leader, but then she reminded herself that his name obviously wasn't Hitsugaya Toushirou, and that Yamamoto probably wouldn't give away his fukutaichou just like this after centuries of working with him.

Clearing his throat Sasakibe made a show of unrolling the scroll in his hands.

"As per order of Yamamoto-Genryuusai Shigekuni, Soutaichou of the Gotei 13, and with the approval of all taichou of the Gotei 13, Hitsugaya Toushirou is hereby appointed taichou of the tenth division of the Gotei 13."

And as if rehearsed all pairs of eyes in the room switched over to the person standing next to Sasakibe. The person whose eye-level was a little lower than initially expected.

There was a long, long silence in the room.

"Well", Matsumoto finally heard someone say, "that kinda sucks."

From behind her Tanabe decided to voice his thoughts as well, albeit a little lower. "That's even worse than a woman..."

Having half a mind to take this words and shove them down his throat until he choked to death, Matsumoto consoled herself with the thought that perhaps whatever deity may be in charge at the moment liked her, at least a little.

Because that person standing next to Sasakibe with a dark, dark scowl was none other than the kid she herself had bitched into shape barely half a year ago.

Man, she was good.

Shoving her way back to the entrance she stopped in front of the kid and smiled down at him.

His eyes narrowed as he noticed her, probably expecting some sort of hostility from her, what with the black atmosphere in the room. But Matsumoto wasn't about to lower herself to the level of that old cranks around her. How could they all be so narrow-minded? (Well, she amended in her head, they hadn't felt the awesome powers he'd leaked when he hadn't any control over them. And how much more frightening would those powers be now that he could?)

"Sixth seat's Matsumoto Rangiku", she said, crouching down on one knee in a ceremonial bow, "I'm looking forward to be working under you."

A few of her comrades imitated her immediately, but the majority remained standing, looking suspiciously from their supposed taichou to the one who had brought him here.

"Tanabe Seiichi", Sasakibe said, turning to the the one who had acted as temporary leader of tenth division up until now, "What is the meaning of this?"

"With all due respect, sir", he replied, pushing away from the wall he had been leaning on and making his way through the crowd, "but that _boy_ seems to be rather wet behind the ears."

"Do you question Yamamoto-soutaichou's ability of judgment?"

"Not at all, sir."

"It sounded like you did. Well then, Hitsugaya Toushirou will be working on probation for the next three months. Any sort of complaint is to be handed in to the first division in written form. With that I take my leave. Hitsugaya-taichou."

The boy returned the nod Sasakibe gave him in kind, then the older man left.

And all hell broke loose. Everyone wanted to add his two cents to the apparent problem at hand, and everyone wanted to do that at exactly the same time, so that nobody could actually understand the other.

"What is the meaning of this?"

"Are they making fun of us?"

"This is ridiculous!"

"Is it just me or has the temperature just dropped?"

Shaking her head slightly at the bunch of grown man behaving like tattling old ladies Matsumoto turned to the boy again. He was watching the tumult rather dispassionately, and Matsumoto couldn't really blame him for it.

"I'm sorry", she said, smiling, "It seems you are having a bunch of raving lunatics under your care now."

His eyes returned to her and he nodded in understanding. "I expected something like this", he said, gesturing with one hand to the heated discussion in front of him, "But it could've been worse."

Matsumoto really didn't want to know how exactly it could have been worse, so instead she concentrated on finding away to calm them down again.

But she needn't have worried at all.

"Silence!"

Hitsugaya's voice pierced through the room, and instantly, every word died down in its speaker's throat.

"You are the highest ranking officer here, I take it", the boy continued in a lower voice, looking at Tanabe.

"I am", came the curt reply.

"If you doubt my ability to lead this division then fight me."

Tanabe seemed to consider that for a moment. "Are you sure boy?", he asked, but didn't actually sound mocking, rather ... incredulous instead, "I am a seasoned fighter, with a long record of victories. I don't think your academy lessons can quite match up to my experience."

"I _am_ sure."

"Fine then."

Matsumoto groaned in annoyance.

Men!


	14. Initiation pt3

**A/N: **Part 3! In which Matsumoto watches and everyone else ... continues being suspicious of their new taichou.

Thanks to: **KatonRyuuka, Rachel Noelle, shohei, rose-of-alabaster, phppsmss, emeraldteardrops, AngeKillua, ** and **Little Patch of Heaven**

* * *

**#14: Initiation (pt.3)**

The tenth division's training grounds had been stage to great a many sparring fights, a few of which Matsumoto herself had performed in. But right now she merely sat on the side ranks, along with her fellow officers, and felt giddy right to her bones.

So what if she took some measure of pride in the fact that she had been the one to recruit that white-haired boy and now found he had exceeded everyone's expectations? What if her ego blew up to cosmic proportions at the idea that she had been the first to see the potential he held (however coincidental that had been) and practically made him taichou?

Exactly.

She was awesome.

But, somehow, she seemed to be the only one thinking that. Around her the expressions on the faces of her colleagues could only be described at skeptical at best, and even then Matsumoto was lenient.

"There's no way that kid can win against Tanabe-san", one person said as they watched the both of the aforementioned take their respective places at opposite ends of the battlefield.

"Why so sure?", Matsumoto asked, because she really didn't know them to be this prejudiced.

"Aw, c'mon, Matsumoto-san, he is a _kid_", Ooka Sanosuke answered from his place a few seats to her left, "He is at least a head shorter than even our youngest members. How _can_ you take him seriously?"

"Well, if everyone in the Gotei 13 were to be judged by their appearances instead of their talents you'd have never made the academy", she answered evenly, and laughter erupted around her.

Ooka only smiled faintly. "Not everyone has attributes they can shove under their superior's nose to get an edge on their colleagues."

"Ooka-san!", a girl exclaimed into the guffaws of the men around her, offended on Matsumoto's behalf, "Don't take this out on others just because you are dissatisfied!"

"It wasn't me who started it", he replied coldly, shrugging his shoulders.

But Matsumoto wasn't in the mood for verbal battles, not when there was a much more interesting battle going to take place any second now. Leaning forward a little Matsumoto estimated what chances Tanabe would stand against his new superior.

His sword was wind-based, so they pretty much stood on equal ground, element-wise. Hitsugaya would under no circumstances use bankai here, that much was for certain, so maybe, if he was lucky, Tanabe could put in a few hits after all.

Not that she doubted Tanabe Seiichi's swordsmanship at all. She knew that he was a force to be reckoned with – he hadn't gotten his seat because it had been on sale and he hadn't held it up until now because nobody had tried to usurp it. His forte was brute strength, and although his body wasn't, his mind was quick and sharp.

On the other hand she'd had high expectations for that white-haired kid since the first time she had seen him, and whatever has gotten him through academy in barely a fraction of the time other people needed, it would probably show itself now.

"Ooka-san", Matsumoto said after a moment of consideration, a small smile playing on her lips, "let's make a bet."

Hushed silence enveloped the people around her, but she kept her gaze on the field below.

"What kind of bet?", the man answered after a second, his voice betraying no emotion whatsoever.

"If that kid wins this fight, you are going to apply for the position as fukutaichou."

There was a sharp intake of breath coming from Ooka, and Matsumoto had to struggle a little to keep the smirk off her face. She knew that the man was one of Tanabe's loyal followers and applying as fukutaichou would be considered a breach in both hierarchy and trust, as everyone had expected for Tanabe to automatically move up the ranks once a new taichou was installed. (Not to mention that it would probably kill him to be forced to work directly under someone not even half his age.)

But Matsumoto was really getting tired of this whole men codex thing.

"Fine", Ooka, agreed, albeit grudgingly, "Then, if he loses, I want you to file a complaint against him at the first division."

That had Matsumoto actually turn her face to look at the man, her brow furrowed. She knew of course where he was coming from with that but hadn't expected him to be that underhanded in his tactics.

But Matsumoto was nothing if not confident. "Alright", she said, nodding her head in emphasize, "Content's up to me?"

"Yes, but I want to read it before you make it official."

As if that would ever happen, Matsumoto thought, but merely nodded again.

The people sitting around them slowly started to turn their attention away again, but the atmosphere remained somewhat strained. Sighing Matsumoto watched as the last preparations were brought to an end down on the field, then held her breath until the first clash of swords would echo over the grounds.

But her lungs demanded air long before any sound came at all.

Both Tanabe and Hitsugaya were standing still in their respective ends of the battlefield, neither making even the tiniest movement to unsheathe their swords anytime soon. Apparently they were engaged in a battle of wits, judging by the way they were glaring at each other, as though daring the other to draw his weapon first.

Matsumoto should have brought some popcorn...

Tapping her foot against the ground she watched as the air practically frizzled between the two opponents, and for a moment she wondered whether they waited for anything to blow up before one of them would move a finger.

And then, all of a sudden Tanabe grasped the hilt of his sword and whipped it out – not a second too soon, as it turned out, because he had to block Hitsugaya's attack instantly.

A few cheers erupted in the crowd as they watched the swordplay taking place and developing in front of them, as swords clashed and blows were delivered, as patterns were found and immediately destroyed. The difference in height and mass between the fighters was compensated by superior speed and agility, so the battle continued in a balanced fashion.

And Matsumoto knew that even Ooka had to admit now that the boy had at least some measure of talent, to be able to stand up against Tanabe with such ease.

Chancing a glance to her right she noticed Ooka to indeed be spellbound by the display of power in front of him, his eyes wide and his mouth slightly opened. Matsumoto almost patted him on the shoulder, but refrained from doing so on behalf of the man's somewhat distorted sense of pride. Instead she trained her eyes back on the field again, and watched little sparks fly as the swords crashed together.

After another few minutes of rather intense sparring the two fighters broke apart and put some distance between them to resume their glaring match. Matsumoto felt the strong urge to roll her eyes. To think that they could be partying right now...

What felt like an eternity later one of the two finally moved. Tanabe, who hadn't lost his cool even though he had so badly underestimated his opponent, straightened and – to everyone's surprise – sheathed his sword.

A collective gasp echoed through the audience, and even Hitsugaya seemed puzzled for the longest moment, before he straightened as well.

"As I told you before", the older man said loud enough for everyone to hear, "I am a seasoned fighter. I have served the Gotei 13 longer than you have been capable of conscious thought."

After sheathing his sword as well Hitsugaya crossed his arms over his chest, probably expecting another insult or something along those lines.

But Tanabe chose to leave them all in suspension a little longer.

When he spoke again, his voice was still gruff, but Matsumoto was almost certain she heard something like admiration ring in it.

"I have to wonder then", Tanabe said, stroking his beard, "What exactly makes you think I wouldn't notice it when you hold back this much of your true power?"

Another gasp rushed through the rows of spectators and low whispers arose among them.

Matsumoto could see Hitsugaya smirk at his opponent.

"I didn't do it for your sake", he said, sounding somewhat pleased, but didn't deem it necessary to elaborate, apparently. Tanabe nodded his acceptance anyway, leaving Matsumoto to wonder if, after all, the man wasn't quite as insensitive to other people's reiatsu as she had taken him to be.

In little flocks the audience started to pour onto the field, until what probably amounted to be the whole of the tenth division was standing around their highest seated officers.

Conversation was loud and fast and pretty much unintelligible since everyone tried to talk at the same time all over again, and the tension in the crowd was still thick enough to poke it with a club.

"Let's give him a chance, at least", Tanabe bellowed through the noise and earned somewhat reserved assent by the majority of the people around him.

With slight laughter Matsumoto walked up to her new taichou.

"That was kinda cool", she said, and extended a closed fist towards him.

He looked up at her with a raised eyebrow, but after a second his features relaxed into a faint smile.

"I guess", he answered and bumped the knuckles of his right hand against hers.


	15. Initiation pt4

**A/N: **So wow ... it's kinda been three months since I last even looked at my account here, much less done any writing for it. There are actually several reasons for this, but just know that my summer has been overwhelmingly busy, and I just couldn't concentrate long enough on writing any fanfic without it turning into some gooish mix of clichés, topped with bad grammar. And especially Per Definitionem deserves a little more attention than that.

Anyway, my apologies to everyone whom I kept waiting and I know that I suck in epic proportions. But I hope that even with this long break in-between you will continue reading and enjoying the various misadventures of Hitsugaya and Matsumoto.

Thanks again (even though I'm not sure whether any of you are even going to read this still) to: **KatonRyuuka, Rachel Noelle, Ark12, Lisilgirl, TheArcanaQuotes** and **nymwid**.

I'll return to my corner of shame now. T.T

* * *

**#15: Initiation (pt.4)**

In the days to follow, after things had settled a little, a temporary senior staff had been established in order to smooth the process of reentering the tenth division into the workings of the Gotei 13. A grand meeting had been called and the entirety of the division assembled to hear the plans for their future. Already they had a rather tight schedule, to bring the somewhat alienated officers back into shape and out of the slump they had fallen in due to the lack of interest the past years had bestowed upon them.

Hitsugaya seemed to have instigated those changes as soon as he had sat down at his desk for the first time and Matsumoto had to wonder how someone so young was able to plan so efficiently, because, surprisingly, their more than busy routine actually helped some of the men loosen up a little. The years of having their division passed over by the higher-ups had made them grim and sullen, and the sudden up wind obviously had an impact on them.

It came as no surprise to Matsumoto, however, that she had no part in this senior staff, even though she counted as one of the highest ranking officers still. When the members had been decided, on the second day of Hitsugaya's probation, Matsumoto had been vetoed against almost unanimously. She hadn't been the only one, mind you, because once you had a reputation within the Seireitei, however true or untrue it was, everyone was prone to judge you on it.

And Matsumoto, among others, had a bad one indeed.

No matter though, she thought as she strode down the hallway, a package of paperwork neatly tucked under her arm and against her side. So her road was a little bit rockier than those of her male co-workers, but she had known that already and she wasn't going to go cry about it. Instead she was going to handle all the small, ingrate errands thrown her way – like running around collecting paperwork and see that it was signed by the right person – until ... well, she'd see.

She would get somewhere eventually.

Tucking her triumphant smile away for a time better suited she continued on her way and noticed a girl standing at the end of the hallway, up ahead of her. Looking a little lost Matsumoto decided to take pity on her and walked up to her.

"Are your searching for someone?", she asked, and the girl turned towards her with wide and slightly fearful eyes. Matsumoto lifted an eyebrow in wonder. She wasn't _that_ frightening!

But the girl caught herself in time and bowed slightly. "I'm sorry", she said, "I am looking for Shi – er ... Hitsugaya-taichou. I didn't know that the divisions' compounds would be so different from each other."

"Which division are you from?", Matsumoto asked with a wide smile and motioned the girl to follow her.

"Fifth", she answered readily.

"Ah, Aizen-taichou, is it? Don't know much about him, though..."

"Yes", the girl replied in a soft voice and a blush flitted across her cheeks, "He is a great man, and a very fine leader."

Somebody had a crush obviously, Matsumoto thought and grinned down at the girl who was nervously tucking at her sleeves. Matsumoto was about to offer some love-advice to her, but another voice interrupted her.

"Momo?"

The two girls turned around immediately towards where Hitsugaya was standing in a doorway, looking at the younger one with apparent confusion.

"Shiro-chan!", the girl exclaimed and bounced a little on her feet.

"Shiro-chan?", Matsumoto echoed and earned a withering glare from her superior. She countered with a sweet smile. "Taichou", she said in greeting, nodding her head slightly.

Mimicking the gesture Hitsugaya turned back to the girl and raised an eyebrow in question. "What are you doing here?", he asked, crossing his arms in his sleeves.

For the longest moment Matsumoto wondered whether he treated everyone like this – a little cold, a little distant, and concluded that it needed further investigation. But that would have to wait until she had a little more time at her hands.

"Well then", she said, before the other one could answer the question, "now that you found him I'm off!" Nodding at the both of them she turned to walk back the way they had come, but the girl's voice made her halt again.

"Ah, thank you for your help, Matsumoto-san!"

And Matsumoto froze in place. That girl knew her? Had she seen her before? Had they ever talked? She was pretty sure she couldn't place her face anywhere...

"I ... uh.... sorry...", she somewhat stammered and turned around, looking apologetic.

"No!", the girl was fast to reply, shaking her head nervously, "We have never met before. My name is Hinamori Momo. I'm friends with Abarai Renji. He talks about you a lot, so..."

Ah, Renji. That chatterbox. "Oh ... well then. Nice to meet you, Hinamori-san. If you ever need anything else don't hesitate to ask!"

Hinamori nodded her thanks and with that Matsumoto saluted and then left.

When she reached her destination Tanabe was already waiting for her. To Matsumoto's utter surprise the old and grumpy man had, over the course of the past week, actually opened up to her. Whenever they met in the hallways nowadays, instead of just nodding to her and be on his merry way like he had done before, he actually stopped and exchanged a few words with her every now and again. And he was one of the few who had actually voted in her favor to become part of the senior staff. Matsumoto, obviously, was touched.

"What took you so long?", he asked now, as she put out the papers down on his table.

"Met taichou's girl on the way here", she said, still grinning.

"Taichou's girl?", Tanabe repeated, blinking, "Ah, you mean Hinamori-kun, don't you?"

"You know her?" Matsumoto's interest was piqued and she knew that he knew that he wouldn't get out of her grasp before he had satisfied her curiosity.

Sighing Tanabe leaned back in his chair. "They grew up together. They are family, if you will."

"Yeah, I almost figured as much", she answered, sounding a little disappointed, "There weren't any vibes between them suggesting that they were intimate with each other."

"Matsumoto-san, please do stop talking like a tattletale. It gives me a headache."

"Aw, Tanabe-san, Don't try to pretend you are not interested in gossiping."

"As a matter of fact I am not."

"But -"

A coughing sound coming from the door made her swallow her words and her spine stiffen as she turned around to face impending doom. What was it with him and appearing out of the blue today anyway?

"Good grief, taichou", she pouted, "you almost scared me right out of my shihakusho!"

Hitsugaya's glare intensified dramatically, but he chose to ignore her for the time being, and turned towards Tanabe instead.

"The tenth division is to take over the night patrols of Rokungai's border starting tomorrow", he stated and Tanabe nodded.

"You'll need a partner for that, seeing as you are still without fukutaichou. Which division are we partnered with?"

This time it was Hitsugaya's turn to nod. "The Third", he said.

Tanabe shot a speculative glance in Matsumoto's direction, and as soon as she understood his train of thought she started flailing her arms wildly behind her taichou's back. But Tanabe only smiled in return, so she made a show of drawing her index finger over her neck in a gesture that promised certain death.

"As much as I'd like to volunteer for the job", he said, his eyes fixed on Matsumoto, "I think our sixth seat here is a much better choice for it. She grew up with the Third's taichou, you see. They are family, if you will."

Matsumoto dropped her arms the second Hitsugaya turned towards her again, still glowering.

"She'll be able to help you through Ichimaru's great a many quirks", Tanabe explained and Matsumoto had to struggle to keep the smile on her face.

"Matsumoto", her taichou said, and that pretty much sealed the deal.


	16. Initiation pt5

**A/N:** The fifth part. Probably only two more to go, but I'm not entirely sure about that. XD Well, we'll see. For now I just want to make you aware that in this little arc Hitsugaya and Matsumoto are only just getting to know each other, and being the polar opposites they are I believe there'd be some tension before they'd be the awesome duo we know them to be.

Anyways, thanks to: **KatonRyuuka**, **kRyStAlt3aRz **and **nymwid.**

I hope you enjoy. =D

* * *

**#16: Initiation (pt.5)**

To Matsumoto, nights in Soul Society never amounted to anything even remotely romantic. Unlike many of her contemporaries, she never found the slightest comfort in the stars shining in the distance, nor did the cold and dark make her want to cuddle up to the next best source of warmth. Quite the opposite, actually. Nights, especially when spent outside, had her antsy and restless, hyper-aware of every little sound and movement around her.

(The manifestation of her zanpakto did reflect those characteristics rather well, she mused.)

So maybe, Matsumoto thought while walking towards the gates of the tenth division's compound, taking a few night shifts wasn't all that bad, all things considered. She could sharpen her senses again, could work off a little of the frustration that had accumulated over time and -

God, this was going to suck so much.

Neglecting the fact that Matsumoto had never done night shifts before, the prospect of doing them now in the presence of one Ichimaru Gin wasn't motivating, not at all. In the past few months she had gone out of her way to avoid him, something she would have never bothered to do if it had been anyone else. But, as per usual, Gin managed to transcend the dictionary definition of a former lover. Or a childhood friend. Or a brother. Or whatever he'd been to her throughout the centuries they had known each other. Their relationship had always been complicated, in the past few decades more so than back in rukongai, and Matsumoto wasn't all too sure if she was still able to handle all those complications.

That aside, it irked her beyond comprehensive thought that she had only gotten this job _because_ of her relation to him. Tanabe had known that she had shared a somewhat deeper bond with the leader of the third division, even though she had never spoken to anyone about it, and Matsumoto could only assume what he had intended by tossing her into this mess.

Not that his motives mattered much now. He had probably been trying to tease her a little for being a tattletale, as he had said, or because she wouldn't let go of the bet she'd made with Ooka who was now trotting around like someone had kicked his puppy (and had Matsumoto fall into recurring fits of evil laughter).

Whatever it was, it was too late for her to wriggle her way out of it now and – well, hadn't she resigned herself to take everything thrown her way in stride?

Sighing Matsumoto came to a halt next to her superior who had obviously already been waiting for her. His arms were folded in his sleeves again, a habit it seemed, and his face was pulled into a frown as he looked up to her.

"You alright?", he asked, but Matsumoto had no way of telling if he was actually interested in her current state of mind, or if he just asked out of courtesy.

"Yeah", she said, not bothering to use her upbeat voice this time. Off to the west the sun was already setting, and even Matsumoto wasn't thick-skinned enough (yet) to pretend that she wasn't anxious about this imminent endeavor.

Looking away she felt Hitsugaya study her for a short minute, then turn away to follow her gaze.

"You're tenth division's", he said, and she turned to look at his profile, "So you are going to work with me, not him."

Matsumoto had to swallow the little chuckle that threatened to jump from her throat, not because she thought his statement funny or curious, but because she thought he might find it a personal offense if she laughed outright at something he had said with such a serious expression.

"I'll hold you to that", she answered with a slight smile she couldn't help herself but give.

He nodded once, sharply, then took a step forwards and was gone the next second. With another sigh Matsumoto set to follow.

"You know", he said when she was next to him again, "that no officer is allowed to use shunpo within the walls of seireitei, except for those in position as taichou and fukutaichou?"

"Unless the express authorization is given by their superior", she cited the textbook every shinigami had to memorize upon entering the academy.

"You never received any such thing", he said, and she couldn't determine whether he was teasing her or actually being serious. She settled for the former.

"Why state the obvious? You would have left me behind if I hadn't used shunpo, and we wouldn't want that, right?", she countered flippantly, "Besides, I'm under my taichou's direct supervision, so what's the harm?"

Evidently, that was the wrong thing to say as Hitsugaya obviously didn't appreciate her nonchalance. So throwing her a quick glance he said: "I've already been informed about your attitude towards regulations -"

"All lies, I tell you!", she interjected, hoping against hope to steer him away from the lecture she knew was coming.

"I'm inclined to give you the benefit of the doubt", Hitsugaya said, his voice free of inflection, "but I want to make you aware that what I command is to be put into execution, not into consideration."

Ah, the bittersweet taste of disappointment, a little like the plum wine she loved so much, only that it wasn't accompanied by the heady feeling she always got when indulging in her favorite vice. Instead the realization that despite his youth Hitsugaya might have already been molded to fit the homogeneous breed of the ideal officer before he had the chance to develop his own view made her stomach drop to her feet.

"Yes, sir", she answered after a very long moment and if Hitsugaya noticed her change in tone he did not act on it.

Without another word they dropped down to ground level again, just beyond the western gate, where Kira Izuru was standing, shuffling his feet.

"Hitsugaya-taichou, Matsumoto-san", he said by way of greeting when he noticed them approaching.

"Kira-kun", Matsumoto replied cheerfully, while Hitsugaya merely nodded to return the greeting, "You up for it?"

The blond man showed a rueful smile. "I hope so", he said and the fingers of his left hand flexed around the hilt of his sword nervously. Matsumoto took it for what it was – a gesture to reassure himself of this imminent endeavor.

"How long we gonna wait?", she asked with a sidelong glance to her superior who was again staring into the sunset, seemingly careless to what was going on around him.

Kira's tense shoulders slumped and he opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by the voice of the missing party before he could utter a word.

"Don't be mean, Rangiku", Ichimaru Gin said as he walked towards them with his hands tucked into his sleeves, "Y'know I ain't late on purpose."

"Just on principal", Matsumoto muttered, and then, in a louder voice: "Ichimaru-taichou."

He inclined his head towards her the tiniest fraction, his smile habitually wide, before he turned to the young taichou standing off to the side. Hitsugaya, for his part, had averted his attention back to the people around him and seemed to be watching the exchange rather sceptically.

"Our young genius is on parade, I see", Ichimaru said, "How's the tenth treatin' ya?"

"With all due respect, _sir_", Matsumoto cut in, stretching the title with obvious mockery she would never have used with anyone else (probably), "Hitsugaya-taichou is an officer of your rank, so you are expected to address him accordingly."

"Oh", Ichimaru responded, tilting his head slightly in fake confusion, "Like you were addressing _Kira-kun_?"

Matsumoto almost had to laugh. "Kira-fukutaichou and I are on cordial terms. You, however, seem to be eager to ridicule -"

"Drop it, Matsumoto", her superior suddenly spoke up, and although she would fiercely deny it later, for a second she was left looking rather stupid, with her mouth hanging open and her eyes blinking rapidly.

She caught herself before her bad reputation could suffer any damage though.

"To answer your question, Ichimaru-taichou", Hitsugaya said, and his arms were crossed in his sleeves again, "The tenth division is treating me well. I can find no matter to complain about."

"Sounds good", Ichimaru said, "I heard ya had a little trouble gettin' the officers to like ya?"

Matsumoto rubbed a hand against her temple – leave it to Ichimaru Gin to point out every and all glitches in that cheerfully awkward way of his without actually mocking anyone directly. It was almost funny.

Hitsugaya shook his head slowly. "There is no need for you to worry", he said, obviously dismissing the issue.

Ichimaru's smile widened a fraction before he turned to step away from the west gate using shunpo, with Kira following close behind. And although Matsumoto could imagine that Hitsugaya might be a little peeved he, too, went without another word.

Exhaling slowly Matsumoto made a last-ditch attempt to prepare herself mentally for what lay before her: nights spent walking up and down a swath of land either in boredom or annoyance, being assaulted by the occasional hollow, accompanied by men who didn't seem to be all too eager to make this any easier for her... at least if the last few minutes had been an omen as to what these nights were going to be like.

And weren't they just off to a great start?


	17. Initiation pt6

**A/N: **Sixth part up, and I'm sorry it took me so long. Again. T.T I know I suck. And I can't even make that long wait up with the quality of this chapter because a) it is short, b) has far too much stream of consciousness, and c) is really just a filler. But bear with me, we are getting somewhere, I swear!

Well, thanks go to: **KatonRyuuka, betwixtnbtw, kRyStAlt3aRz, nymwid, WhiteWinterDragon, Strata's Stargazer** and another anonymous person (whoever you may be).

On we go.

* * *

**#17: Initiation (pt.6)**

All things considered, there was only one very basic rule Soul Society operated on: Having power, in the most physical sense, equals having status. There was no space for evaluating social skills, leadership skills, or, and Matsumoto realized that with a wry smile, the mere level of intelligence before appointing a person to their position within the Gotei 13. It was a sad thing, not to mention completely wasteful, Matsumoto thought, because she was almost sure that a lot of bright heads were lost every year just because some young shinigami-to-be had trouble getting their zanpakto to obey (which, to be perfectly honest, Matsumoto still had even now – she merely learned to hide it better).

Looking at it from the other side didn't seem to make things any better. Chances were that the highest positions were filled with people of questionable capability – not that Matsumoto wanted to insult, but the fact remained that some people high up in ranks were unfit to be a leader of men, mostly because of severe personality flaws (she tended to count herself among them).

Matsumoto was no expert, by no means, but she was convinced that Soul Society's recent history had been a long way in coming and that Yamamoto must have turned a blind eye to the going-ons around him to not have noticed anything at all. Then again, Matsumoto couldn't exactly pride herself with the knowledge of never having been deceived herself, and she really wasn't one to throw the first stone.

But Ichimaru Gin (not that skinny boy with the weird grin – no, the other one, that man who liked to shroud himself in mysteries) did not make for a good leader, that much even she could tell and hadn't been afraid to do so on various occasions. Sure he was powerful, was intelligent, and Matsumoto knew him to be able to play nice, if only under the seal of secrecy – but the way he had dog-trained Kira into following his every word or risk being punished with a slap to the nose made Matsumoto's stomach twist itself into knots.

Watching the exchange between those two on the first few nights of their (forced) cooperation with a vague sense of horror she came to the conclusion that she'd rather remain sixth seat forever, if only it meant preserving her dignity and independence. And to think that Kira had so much potential...

Hitsugaya, for his part, seemed to think along the same lines, if the skeptical glances he had been throwing their way whenever they were in his line of vision was anything to judge by, and Matsumoto had to wonder what he would want in his fukutaichou, or if he felt any need to fill the position at all.

What she knew was that she kind of already regretted being the one to have tossed him into this whole mess. She was a good judge of character and she knew that serving the Gotei 13 was bound to make him even more grim than he had been to begin with.

Of course, it was too late for that now, and she would be damned before she told him about any of this.

So, to distract herself from all those unpleasant thoughts she returned her attention to a spot far in the distance and continued to contemplate whether that flickering light she had been watching for the better part of the last hour was worth investigating.

The night had been a very slow one, more so than those before. As per usual the two divisions had split up to cover more ground in less time (which, obviously, was a futile endeavor but Matsumoto wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth), then reunite every three or so hours to switch routes.

It left Matsumoto a lot of time to think. Probably too much. Hitsugaya wasn't into small talk, but she could have guessed that beforehand, and there wasn't much else to do. She had to physically restrain herself from twiddling her thumbs out of sheer boredom.

Stifling a yawn she stretched her aching limbs a little, then straightened the pink scarf around her neck. Nights were getting palpably colder these days, and Matsumoto wondered whether she shouldn't have brought her cuddly fur shawl with her.

"Two hours until sunrise", Hitsugaya said, startling Matsumoto out of her trivial reverie. Almost automatically she turned her head to regard the eastern edge of the horizon, but could not see even the faintest sliver of light yet. Confused she looked at her superior – not that she doubted his statement, if anything she could only support it, judging from the way Haineko (thus herself) grew perpetually calmer with the approach of a new day. She just hadn't been aware that Hitsugaya (or Hiyourinmaru, for that matter) had such a good sense of time. Which, of course, demanded further investigation.

"How can you tell?", she asked, cocking her head in what she hoped was innocent curiosity.

He glanced at her for a short second, but just as soon turned away again. "The air is warming up slightly", he stated with a shrug of his shoulders.

So, obviously, Hitsugaya was rather sensitive to temperature because from where Matsumoto was standing it was just as cold as it had been half an hour ago, if not colder. But that could have been her growing more and more tired.

She wanted to further that point with him, but Ichimaru chose that moment to call their attention.

"Nothing's gonna happen anymore", he said, approaching them with Kira in tow, "So how about quittin' for tonight and headin' home?"

Matsumoto was inclined to agree, but that was before she felt her superior bristle beside her.

"We have a duty, Ichimaru-taichou", he said through gritted teeth, "And that does not mean we are free to go when we please."

Ichimaru tilted his head in amusement and Matsumoto had a really bad feeling about this.

"So ya think there'll be a Hollow attackin' us soon?"

"It's the principle of the matter, regardless of how imminent the danger is."

"Impressive, little taichou, impressive. But you know that _the principle of the matter_ ain't gonna get you anywhere in a fight."

Uh-oh. Matsumoto had always disliked Know-it-all-Gin and she was pretty sure Hitsugaya wasn't going to be any more fond of him. Time to interfere, it was.

"We still need to cover the western territory", she said, rubbing the kinks out of the back of her neck, acting as if she didn't notice the animosity between the two, "So we'd best be off..."

She hoped it was enough to sidetrack Hitsugaya and get him to not rise up to the other's taunting, tempting as it was. For a moment, however, she saw her efforts grumble under the glare he was fixing on Ichimaru. But then, abruptly, he turned away and walked off into the woods. Matsumoto watched him go for a second before she looked back again.

"Leave him alone", she said and was disappointed that she didn't sound as cold as she wanted to.

She was accompanied by Ichimaru's chuckle as she followed her superior.


	18. Initiation pt7

**A/N: **Part seven, and the end is nigh. Only one (maybe two) chapters to go, and this little arc will finally draw to a close.

Thanks to:**KatonRyuuka, betwixtnbtw, WhiteWinterDragon, Strata's Stargazer, kRyStAlt3aRz **and **BoopieBear**

Enjoy (and please review)!

* * *

**#18: Initiation (pt.7)**

Huffing she came up to walk next to Hitsugaya, wondering how those short legs of his could have kept him walking so fast. But all her musings came to a screeching halt when she saw the expression on his face. Knowing mediating wasn't exactly her field of expertise, and guessing neither of the two involved would really appreciate any efforts she might make in that direction, Matsumoto decided that silence, indeed, was golden.

At least for the whole of two seconds.

"You know", she said, when those seconds were over, "he doesn't really mean it when he says stuff like that. He likes to rile people up."

She felt entirely stupid saying that because it felt like she was defending Ichimaru, which she wasn't. And seeing as she wasn't she feared Hitsugaya would think she was trying to patronize him. Which she wasn't either.

Ugh.

Hitsugaya didn't even throw her a quick glance this time. "None of my concern", he said, and Matsumoto felt herself falter.

And then she laughed. Hard.

This time her superior did look up at her, his eyebrows raised sceptically. He didn't even need to ask the question, however, because Matsumoto had already started explaining.

"Sorry", she said through her giggles, "I just ... you know, back at the division I have this entire 'I am woman, hear me roar' – thing going, but just now I really panicked because I didn't know what to say to you without sounding cheesy or condescending or whatever."

Another fit of laughter interrupted her speech, but then she straightened herself, the jester still hiding in the corner of her mouth and said, "On the risk of sounding cheesy, I can honestly say I've never met a person like you."

He frowned at her for the longest second, his arms crossed in his sleeves again. Then, without relaxing his facial features, he said, "Likewise."

Matsumoto's eyes widened for a moment, but then she grinned. "Knew it!", she said and earned a scoff from him. "What?"

"No need to get so excited", he explained and turned away again, "I'm just surprised that although you've got such a ... wild reputation you have done nothing so far to deserve it."

Her grin fell for a moment, but soon was replaced by a mask of mock indignation. "You mean to tell me you believed what they told you about me?"

Hitsugaya shrugged as he continued to lead the way. "People say there's a grain of truth to every rumor", he said vaguely.

Huffing in response she frowned at his back. "Those rumors being?"

"You are tardy, lazy and overall rather unmotivated", he answered as if he was talking about the weather forecast.

Matsumoto stopped in surprise. "Oh", she said eloquently, "No, actually, that you can believe."

Her superior threw her a skeptical glance over his shoulder. "It doesn't stop there", he said and Matsumoto knew what he meant.

"It's unfounded", she stated.

"I am aware of that", he answered, "But you should be careful with something like this. Having a reputation in the Gotei 13 is always a critical thing."

"I'm not responsible for whatever it is they assume when they see me", she returned defensively, not liking the direction this conversation was going, "It's not my fault they are jaundiced. I didn't do anything wrong."

"That might be true for the people who don't know you, I give you that. But that doesn't mean you can't be faulted for the reputation you have with the people who do know you", Hitsugaya said sternly, stopping in his tracks and turning to train his eyes on her, "Tardy, lazy and unmotivated, Matsumoto? Hardly the description for an officer of the Gotei 13."

Uh-oh, Matsumoto thought, that cannot end well. But she wouldn't be Matsumoto Rangiku if she didn't have a rebuttal right at hand. "I am efficient, sir", she said, returning his glare with a steady and confident look, "You won't find complaints about my work, despite my shortcomings, so I don't see the need to change myself just so I fit into some far-fetched definition of the perfect soldier."

There was a long minute of silence between them, and Matsumoto wondered if she had crossed a line she should have never even approached.

But then Hitsugaya relaxed and a slight smirk turned one corner of his mouth up. "That's more like it", he said, nodding, and Matsumoto blinked at him dumbly.

"Huh?", she said and resisted the urge to scratch her head.

"I just wanted to hear what you had to say for yourself."

"Uh ... okay? You could have just asked me in the first place, you know, instead of listening to other people gossiping?"

"I never said I believed anything that I heard about you from others."

Scanning back through the conversation Matsumoto had to admit he really hadn't. Which totally irked her. "So what?", she snapped, "You decided to needle me until I admitted all my flaws by myself?"

"I did not needle you, you admitted them of your own volition. Besides, being aware of one's flaws helps keeping the personality balanced."

For a short, short minute Matsumoto felt taken aback, but then her muscles relaxed and she grinned at Hitsugaya. "You are quite something, aren't you?"

The boy shrugged and glanced at the dark sky overhead. "You have to be if you want to survive here, don't you?"

Matsumoto nodded her head in agreement and thought back to how she'd started out as a seated officer of the Gotei 13, of how indignant she had felt whenever someone treated her as less of a warrior because of her gender. She still felt indignant whenever something like that happened, but she had learned to take it in stride.

"Say, taichou", she said finally, wonderingly, "Do you think Hinamori-chan would want to be part of some sort of organization for female shinigami, if there'd be one?"

Hitsugaya looked at her, surprised by her sudden change of topic. It was obvious that he tried to gauge the motivation lying behind her statement from her expression only, but didn't seem to get anywhere. "I guess she would", he answered then, "Her need to help people, whether they want it or not, would probably make it mandatory for her to join."

Laughing Matsumoto thought back to the only encounter she'd had with the girl so far, and how polite but shy she had been. "So she is quite amiable, isn't she?", she asked after a moment.

Hitsugaya nodded. "She is, and expects everyone else to be as well."

"What do you mean?", Matsumoto asked, hearing the shift in his voice and feeling a frown pull at her features accordingly.

"She is overly trusting towards everybody she meets", he answered by way of explanation, and Matsumoto's frown deepened.

"Or maybe you're just overly mistrusting towards everybody you meet?", she asked, daringly.

But he merely shrugged. "Maybe", he said, his eyes turned away and Matsumoto deflated again.

It seemed to be a sore point for him, Hinamori's attitude, but Matsumoto couldn't quite estimate why or even how much it really bothered him. So she decided on a different approach and said, "She seems to be quite smitten with Aizen-taichou, if the way she gushes about him is anything to judge by."

Hitsugaya didn't answer but the minute frown flitting over his face told Matsumoto everything she needed to know. "You don't approve?", she asked, her voice free of inflection.

"It's not a question of whether I approve or not", he answered, honestly, "But I think mixing your private life with your professional one just invites all sorts of difficulties."

Already she felt the tiniest bit guilty about it, but Matsumoto couldn't really stop her eyelids from drooping a little, or keep the small pout off her lips. "Is that so?", she purred and was rewarded with seeing her superior blush.

Surprisingly, he recovered rather quickly. "Are you offering?", he asked, his tone forced into indifference.

With a smile she cocked a hip and stemmed her hand into it. "We already covered the topic of my disastrous reputation. So sleeping with my superior doesn't really seem to be the best way for me to go."

"I thought so", he answered and even if he tried he couldn't keep the slight sense of relief from showing in his voice. Matsumoto was hard pressed not to laugh, but put up a hard struggle to remain composed because obviously she wasn't done yet.

And so, in all seriousness, she said, "Doesn't mean I'm not interested."

And the blush was back again, darker than before. "Matsumoto!", Hitsugaya all but yelled, but she only gave him a cheeky grin as she moved past him.

"We still have a job to do, don't we?"

And as if waiting for its cue to get on stage, a Hollow chose that exact moment to crash through the foliage and towards them.


	19. Initiation pt8

**A/N: **I'm lame, I know. And by now I feel I sound like a broken record for apologizing all of the time. But alas, I will do it again: I'm really sorry this took so long. Again. But do not fret - the next chapter will be the last one (finally) and I'll try to have it up here tomorrow, maybe even tonight if I find the time. But for now enjoy the eighth chapter of Initiation.

Thanks again to: **KatonRyuuka, WhiteWinterDragon, Rachel Noelle, Strata's Stargazer, kRyStAlt3aRz, RarusuRinnu1310** and **Smashing Stars**.

* * *

**#19: Initiation (pt.8)**

Matsumoto's mood, as fickle as it had been these past few nights, finally decided to take a leap and was now free-falling, the cold, hard ground its inevitable destination.

Grinding her teeth she flicked her wrist once, twice and watched as her ash sliced through the tentacle-like arm of the Hollow in front of her – a monster twice her size and as grotesquely deformed as all his brothers. It had chased her around for the longest time, had played hide and seek with her until a few hundred meters separated her from Hitsugaya who was kept on his feet by a pair of Hollows of similar built. Still even now Matsumoto could feel his reiatsu soar with a force that made the hair on the back of her neck stand on end.

But she couldn't let her concentration slip now. It was a confession of failure that she'd already found trouble in subduing one meek Hollow – it would be even worse if she'd actually lose against one.

Breaking her silent reverie with a shriek the Hollow jerked his remaining arm in a circular motion, in the blind hope of getting the particles of ash swirling around away from him. Matsumoto couldn't help but smirk and decided that it was time to call her cat back.

Heeding its master's wish the ash concentrated at one point in midair and then, as one buzzing mass, tore through the Hollow's body like a knife cut through butter before manifesting as the blade of Matsumoto's zanpakto once again.

Without sticking around to watch the Hollow fall apart Matsumoto turned and dashed towards Hitsugaya's current location. Like crumbs from a bread to indicate the direction she ought to go pillars of ice lined her path as she moved through the woods, and for a moment she was grateful that the shikai of most taichou (and the occasional fukutaichou) tended to be flashy, making it ridiculously easy to track them down.

Accelerating her speed Matsumoto emerged from the trees and immediately looked up at the sky. The two Hollows had become three, and for a moment Matsumoto chided herself for having rushed away without confirming her first opponent's death. But that would have to wait until later, seeing as Hitsugaya was surrounded and outnumbered – obviously her assistance was needed here.

Hovering several dozen meters above ground as they were Matsumoto made to jump up the highest tree and throw herself into the fray. But then something caught her eye: One of the Hollows, a rather lanky, elastic one latched one of his many, many arms onto Hitsugaya's right hand, crushing it to the hilt of his zanpakto. And as unable as he was to free his hand in time to dodge the attack the other Hollow behind him was about to make, Matsumoto couldn't be up there in time to save him.

A fleeting thought entered her mind and for a moment she wondered why neither Ichimaru nor Kira had noticed anything about this. But before she could lose any more time her mind ceased wondering and started demanding action. So her feet moved forward again and although ice really, really wasn't her element at all, she used the pillars Hitsugaya had so conveniently, albeit unintentionally, placed around the battlefield to get her up high enough.

Her first step onto the ice was uncertain, naturally, and she knew she would have slipped hadn't the strangest thing happened right then. She didn't know whether it was a conscious thought of Hitsugaya because he had noticed her arrival, or whether Hiyorinmaru had acted independently because he had recognized her as an ally, but the split second her foot touched the surface of one pillar tiny shreds of ice came up around her toes to keep her steady and then even helped her get enough momentum to reach the next pillar.

Taking the opportunity as it presented itself to her and deciding to save the questions for later, Matsumoto jumped along, trusting Hitsugaya (or Hiyorinmaru respectively) to not let her fall and break her neck now.

Unsheathing Haineko and calling forth her shikai Matsumoto let the ashcat cover the rest of the distance between them and watched her tearing through the lanky Hollow's outstretched arm, then returning to her hilt so that Matsumoto could rush forward and bury her inside the torso of the Hollow hovering behind Hitsugaya before he even knew what hit him.

She let out a groan as blood sprayed her body and she had to turn away to avoid getting it into her eyes – a moment the third of the trio used to crash into her, using all his weight and strength to throw her off and have her plummet towards the ground. Struggling against the vice-like hold his ridiculously muscled arms had on her Matsumoto rather heard than saw something crash into the back of him and thought for a frenzied second it would pierce through her as well.

The Hollow was being ripped apart all right, but she was snatched out from under him before she could even receive the faintest cut.

Getting her senses back together now that she was upright again Matsumoto stared at her taichou's hand that he had wrapped around her forearm, then at his profile as he was dragging her upwards again.

"We make a pretty awesome team, huh?", she said and saw his eyebrow jump before he let go of her. And then, to her utter surprise, he nodded.

"Be careful now", he warned, "the smallest one can restore himself within seconds."

"You know the trick yet?", Matsumoto asked, knowing no Hollow was indestructible.

Hitsugaya shook his head. "I've been thinking his face, but he doesn't guard it well enough for it to really be his weak point."

"Oh well, mindless slashing it is then", she replied and readied her zanpakto again as the remaining Hollow drew closer to them.

"Actually", Hitsugaya said and a small grin formed on his lips, "I have a better idea. How much of Haineko's ash can you get inside of the Hollow?"

Matsumoto frowned. "All of it, if necessary", she answered, unsure of what he meant, but calling out her cat already anyway.

"Then please do so."

And suddenly she was on the same page, and with a grin of her own let Haineko fizz through the air. The ash shot into the Hollow's snout and spread through his body in a matter of seconds, rushing through his blood streams and invading every single one of his organs without trouble. And just as fast a surge of ice came up from the ground and enveloped the Hollow entirely.

"How long should we wait?", Matsumoto asked, thinking that the statue the Hollow made now, what with all the ice twisting around it, holding it still in its state of complete shock, seemed to be almost aesthetic. Or as aesthetic as any Hollow could ever hope to be.

"A minute should do", Hitsugaya answered and sheathed his zanpakto, already turning away to assess the amount of damage their surroundings had taken.

Matsumoto took a second to do the same; the battlefield was littered with crunches and towers of ice, a few trees had suffered a rather quick demise and it seemed that no living thing here had taken too well to the sudden cold. It really was a rather fortunate fact then for Matsumoto to have a slightly above average body temperature, because it seemed working with Hitsugaya on a regular basis held the promise of vicious frost bite.

"Where are Ichimaru and Kira?", her taichou interrupted her thoughts, and frowning Matsumoto turned to him.

"No idea", she answered truthfully, "I haven't seen them since we parted ways. Maybe they are busy slaying their own Hollows."

Vaguely Hitsugaya nodded, although he seemed thoroughly discontented with her reply.

Not her business though, Matsumoto thought and decided she would steer the conversation to what actually was.

"Say, taichou", she began and watched him turn towards her, "When did you notice I was here?"

He gave her a short measuring glance, then exhaled slowly through his nose – almost a sigh. "Not until you gutted that Hollow."

Interesting, Matsumoto thought, because that meant it had actually been Hiyorinmaru's doing after all.

"Why do you ask?", Hitsugaya inquired, his eyes wandering over the battlefield again.

Matsumoto shrugged, not yet willing to share her assumptions concerning the significance of Hiyorinmaru acting autonomously to help her. "Thought you were trying to draw out the suspense, I guess", she said instead, grinning, "Making them feel all safe and superior when you knew back-up was on the way."

"I don't like dramatics", he said, obviously not sharing her mirth.

"Thought so", she returned and finally raised the hand holding the hilt of Haineko, then flicked her wrist again.

What followed was a rather impressive explosion as the diminutive particles of ash ripped through the frozen Hollow's body and shattered the ice layered around it. It was beautiful in a rather morbid way, knowing that there was no way for any creature, Hollow or not, to survive being torn apart like this.

"I guess our work here is done", Matsumoto said flippantly as she sheathed her restored sword.

Hitsugaya nodded once, then turned to leave.


	20. Initiation pt9

**A/N: **That's it, lads and lasses, the conclusion to Initiation. It sort of saddens me to say this but this is also going to be the last chapter for Per Definitionem, so once again I wanted to thank everyone who has ever reviewed or put this collection on a favorite or alert list. You guys really rock, even though I don't know a single one of you. It really was a fun ride and I thoroughly enjoyed writing all these half-crazy stories about the dynamite duo. But now other projects are awaiting so I'll be off!

So thanks again, and enjoy!

* * *

**#20: Initiation (pt.9)**

The next morning was positively buzzing with work, seeing as it had been a very long time since anyone in the tenth division had even seen a Hollow from afar, and the news of Hitsugaya's and Matsumoto's 'Heroic Battle' seemed to have traveled the grape vine faster than you could say 'exaggeration'. Which was just as well, Matsumoto thought, because she actually liked the feeling of being any sort of hero for a change, instead of The Nuisance or The Sexual Object. (Either one of those, often both.)

But this time around her co-workers actually stopped her on her way through the division and congratulated her for her utter success, asking her to recount the events from last night as accurate as possible. That she did, leaving no detail out, adding minor ones here and there, but nothing to distort the actual story.

She did, however, lie through her teeth whenever someone asked whatever her companions had been up to while they were busy fighting – because honestly, Matsumoto didn't want to be the one to go and slander what little reputation Ichimaru Gin (and by extension Kira) had left. After meeting up with the two of them again the night before it didn't actually seem like they had been in any sort of trouble at all, and there obviously had been no reason for their delay. But with Ichimaru wearing his usual mask of mocking cheerfulness Matsumoto had turned to Kira in order to gain some information. He returned her look with a silent apology.

"You seem to know your stuff, little taichou", Ichimaru had said then, and finally it had dawned upon Matsumoto: Ichimaru had wanted to witness first hand what power Hitsugaya held and so probably forced Kira to mask his reiatsu along with him and be a fly on the wall.

It was something he would do, without the shadow of a doubt, and Matsumoto wondered why she had needed so long to figure it out.

She didn't ponder on it though, and eclipsed that bit of information from becoming public knowledge by scratching it entirely from her tale. The matter of Hiyorinmaru's discrete actions suffered a similar fate.

But aside from that she reveled in retelling what had happened to her more than eager audience – they were enraptured, to say the least.

In short, Matsumoto loved the attention she was receiving and bathed in her fame unrepentantly.

That didn't mean that she wasn't still burdened with the rather mundane jobs no division could function without.

That would be paperwork, at the moment. Again.

She was on her way to deliver a pile of it to Tanabe Seiichi who, despite the many rumors claiming otherwise, had not yet moved up in ranks. To Matsumoto's great surprise he didn't seem particular unhappy about that.

Turning the corner and entering another hallway she wondered whether the man himself had even ever planned to be promoted. Maybe he was actually content with the position he occupied? Which was nice and good, in Matsumoto's books, because the Gotei 13 did have more than enough men consumed by unduly ambition, and it would be a nice change of pace if there actually were people who pushed their limits, but accepted them when they noticed they couldn't go any further... Or maybe that was just her having a motivational problem.

With a sigh she stopped in front of a nondescript door and knocked lightly, but no answering call came. She knocked again with a little more force. Still no answer.

Well, that probably meant Tanabe was out. Or asleep. Or temporarily deaf.

Looking left and right Matsumoto pondered her options and decided that it would be the best choice to just search out the next higher-ranking officer – which would be Hitsugaya himself whom she hadn't seen since they had separated the night before, both inclined to get at least an hour of sleep before the paperwork that was irreversibly linked with a Hollow attack found them and hauled them up by their ears and into their desks again.

So with a new goal in mind Matsumoto headed further down the hallway and stopped in front of another door of pretty much the same design as the first one.

But at least her knocking didn't go unheard this time. The distinct voice of her taichou allowed her entrance and with a confident flick of her wrist she opened the door. And froze.

There it was. The picture she had hastily drawn in her head when she had first heard her new taichou's name – two white-haired man sitting together, playing shogi. Matsumoto couldn't decide whether to laugh or groan at seeing Hitsugaya and Tanabe mirroring each other's thinking pose on opposite ends of the shogi board. She settled for tilting her head to the side.

"Matsumoto-san", Tanabe said smiling, while Hitsugaya merely inclined his head towards her, "What brings you here?"

Closing the door behind her Matsumoto knelt on the tatami-covered floor. "Hitsugaya-taichou, Tanabe-san", she said in greeting, then turned towards the latter, "I've brought the reports you've asked for."

"Thank you, Matsumoto-san", Tanabe answered and extended a hand to receive said papers, "We were talking about you just now."

"Were you now?", Matsumoto asked, feigning indifference as she started to count the wrinkles on Tanabe's forehead. As if knowing what she was doing Tanabe furrowed his brow, making it an impossible task to distinguish one wrinkle from the other.

"We were", answered Hitsugaya, distracting her from her internal act of stupidity, "It seems that despite everything the senior staff still doesn't like you. Excepting Tanabe-san, of course", he explained, his eyes still trained on the board in front of him.

Matsumoto frowned. She hadn't really expected for them to suddenly have a change of heart and start worshiping the ground she walked upon, so she didn't know why Hitsugaya had. Or why it was worth discussing, all of a sudden.

"Thanks for pointing that out, I guess", she replied, unsure of what she should do with the given information. For a split second it looked as though a small grin pulled on Hitsugaya's lips, but it was gone too quickly for Matsumoto to actually be sure. Tilting her head a little to the side she flicked a short glance towards Tanabe who had returned his attention to the board, so Matsumoto focused on the younger of the two again. "I suffer no delusions when it comes to my standing with them", she offered as nobody seemed eager to explain to her what was going on.

"Good", Hitsugaya answered, nodding, "I didn't consider you to be of the sort to ingratiate yourself to anyone in order to gain their favor."

"Sharp observation, taichou", Matsumoto said and earned a withering glare from Tanabe. Which she pointedly ignored.

"But after all the time we have spent together these past days", Hitsugaya continued unimpressed, "I have to admit that you still lack a sense for protocol. And that might cost you in the long run, as I'm sure you don't want to stifle your potential by carelessly disregarding formal obligations."

Matsumoto shrugged nonchalantly. "It's a tough world, and not everything will work out the way _protocol_ wants it to", she answered and by the way she stretched that one word her distaste for it and everything it stood for became almost tangible.

Hitsugaya's pale eyebrows drew together at that, and his eyes narrowed just the tiniest bit. "Are you implying that you would set yourself above Soul Society's rules and standards?"

"If it means doing the right thing, then obviously yes."

"So it depends on the circumstances."

"I guess so."

"You don't know so?"

Mentally Matsumoto groaned. She hated talking about stuff like this, and everybody who knew here knew that she was more of a let-your-actions-speak-for-you kinda gal. All this hypothesizing made her itchy, but it was obvious that an answer was expected – sooner rather than later. So trying to find the right words to deliver the explanation that seemed so apparent in her mind but obviously failed to make itself clear in her superior's she absently tapped a finger against her chin.

"What I'm trying to say is", she said, still thinking, "that while having strict order in a society such as ours is all good and well, it doesn't mean we should stop using our own heads to deal with situations in our own way. If all we are ever going to do is depend on what's written somewhere on crumbling parchment instead of doing what's logical to us and, better yet, the _natural_ order of things we might as well just stop thinking altogether."

During her explanation Hitsugaya had finally turned to look at her, still frowning. "The individual above the community?"", he asked curtly.

"No, the individual within the community. No sense in honing your skills if the person next to you can just as well replace you any minute. No sense in honing your skills if there's nobody who'd have any use for them, either."

"What about leadership, then?"

"Necessary, but not to the point of dependency. Absolutism should be avoided as well."

By now Matsumoto could see that her smugness was getting a rise out of her superior. And to a certain degree it amused her. She had never talked about this with anyone, and the last person she had ever considered to break that trend was someone like him – a young boy falling in line with old men. If she were him she'd be bored out of her mind by now.

"What about trust?", Hitsugaya asked, his jaw somewhat clenched.

"Should be earned, not handed out. Should not be easily abandoned either."

Honestly? She was getting a little annoyed with the game that they were playing, seeing as she still was not sure what he actually wanted. Besides, Tanabe had this odd sort of smile on his face – which could not be a good sign for her. About to wriggle her way out of this and be able leave the room again to return to the normal world she opened her mouth to speak but Hitsugaya interrupted her at her first syllable.

"Still all your notions seem to be wrong", he said, "because an officer of your caliber is not held back like this without a reason."

Matsumoto almost gasped. How dare he, that sneaky little brat! "The reason being the protocol itself, not my notions concerning it", she said rather coldly, crossing her arms.

"You think yourself qualified for the position as fukutiachou?", Hitsugaya returned, his tongue just as sharp as hers.

"Of course I'm qualified to be fukutaichou!", she snapped, "Obviously I fulfill all the requirements."

There was a beat of silence in which Matsumoto reconsidered whether she shouldn't have put herself out there like that. And why was Tanabe grinning now? She tried to keep herself from shifting nervously.

"Good", Hitsugaya said then and all the vehemence in his voice was suddenly gone as though her statement had actually soothed him, "Your formal inauguration will be tomorrow morning at nine. Don't be late."

For a second Matsumoto just stared. Then she blinked. And then blinked some more.

_That _certainly was unexpected, she mused, and she really had the sneaking suspicion she had been tricked somehow just now. Had she just argued herself into being promoted? Because that would be kind of weird. Awesome, but weird.

With a look of skepticism she leveled her eyes on her superior again, daring him to take back what he just said.

He returned her stare evenly, no sign of insecurity or just the tiniest hint of mockery anywhere.

He was actually being serious.

Relaxing exceedingly she gave him her most radiant smile. "That, taichou, is a decision I can unreservedly sanction."

He almostsmirked back at her.

It turned out to be a rather nice morning, after all.


End file.
